The Last Heir
by Kiwi6498
Summary: Eleven years after Hermione graduates, it's her daughter's turn to go to Hogwarts. But what will she do, because if her daughter goes, it jeopardizes her mostguarded secret the true identity of Janie's father. Through laughs and tears, anger and frustr
1. That Night

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the wonderful J.K. Rowling owns it all and I'm also not making any money off of this…zip, zero, and zilch.**

He was making his nightly rounds when he overheard a conversation coming from the hospital wing. One voice, of course, was that of Madam Pompfrey's, the old mediwitch. The other, was a voice he was quite familiar with, Hermione Granger, the Gryffindor know-it-all prefect. He could not believe his ears, she was pregnant.

"Did you hear me, honey? You're expecting."

"How far along?" Hermione forced out.

"About 2 ½, 3 weeks. Who did this to you?" The old witch asked, pity in her voice.

Hermione was silent.

"Hermione, please tell me, at least, that it is someone you know."

She nodded.

"Will you tell me who?"

Hermione shook her head, starting to look really sick.

"Was it a student?"

Hermione shook her head again.

"Oh my! Please don't tell me it was a member of the staff!" Madam Pompfrey shrieked.

Outside the infirmary, Severus's heart almost burst out of his chest, but nothing really dawned on him yet. Hermione shook her head again.

"You're not going to tell me now, are you?"

"No, probably not."

"Hmmm, just as I thought. Look, I'm here if you need to talk to me, and I promise I won't tell anyone. I do expect to see you in a few weeks for a check-up. It's probably just Mr. Weasley or Mr. Potter, right?"

"Probably."

"Well, that's a relief to know. At least it wasn't a person like Mr. Malfoy." Snape could tell that she was trying to lighten the situation, but she really wasn't doing to good of a job.

"Mmmm, he wouldn't sink_ that_ low," Hermione said quietly.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. You can spend the night here if you want, it's almost past curfew."

"Alright, I suppose so," the shocked witch replied softly.

A grin popped up on the old mediwitch's face that was big enough to stick your head in.

"The bathroom is down the wing to the right; you'll probably need it in the morning."

Hermione glared daggers at her.

"I'm just letting you know, because I don't have any morning sickness potions. After all, I never thought a student would need one here at Hogwarts. And if they did, they'd would never tell me. But, none-the-less, I will have Professor Snape make you some _and_ have your identity remain a secret. Well, at least you'll have graduated before you really start to show."

Hermione had a look of disgust on her face, "Three more months to go," she said, barely audible, referring to how much longer she had until graduation.

"Well yes…"

"And NEWTs just around the corner."

"You'll do fine! You are the smartest witch of your age!"

"I _was_ the smartest witch my age."

"Oh please, one mistake doesn't ruin your life! Hey, it could make it better," she said, while placing a hand on Hermione's knee.

"I'm pregnant! Are you blind?! No, maybe you're deaf! You just told me that I'm going to have a baby!" The old witch brought her hand back faster than the speed of light, due to an icy glare that would make Professor Snape shiver. "I was always told that I would have a bright future ahead of me. I'm not old enough for this; I'm not _ready_ enough for this! Now look at me; in nine months, I'm going to have a baby to take care of!"

"Hermione!" The old witch exclaimed, shocked at the young witch's outburst.

A few moments were spent in silence, when the older witch spoke, "You know, you still have options."

"I know, but I can't do any of those to a human being; _my_ human being."

"You need some sleep," she spoke up, after several minutes. Madam Pompfrey walked over to her office and Hermione heard the clank of bottles.

"Here," she said, "Take this. It's a dreamless sleep potion."

Hermione took it and downed it in one gulp.

He watched as she handed her the empty bottle and plopped down on the pillows. Poppy walked to her office and returned with a light-blue vial in her hand. The only potions with this color were potions that were used to find out the gender of the baby (way too early for that) and then...Oh no! That sneaky old bat was going to try and find out the baby's parents! Oh shit! He didn't want Hermione to be embarrassed, seeing as she wasn't yet sleeping. The witch must finally be going senile, because even he could tell that the young witch was faking sleep, and she had yet to notice.

As Madam Pompfrey neared the young witch's bed, he new he had to do something to stop her. Then, as she uncorked the bottle, Severus made an unnoticeable entrance.

"Good evening, Poppy," Severus said in a smooth voice.

"Good evening, Severus. What are you doing up so late?"

"Oh, I was just making my nightly rounds when I heard my name coming from down the hall. What's going on here?"

"Umm, nothing out of the ordinary," she said, trying to re-cork the bottle behind her back. "Ms. Granger was just having a restless sleep, so I was going to give her the dreamless sleep draft."

"Oh, really now," he said, folding his arms over his chest.

_Shit, I hope he didn't hear the _whole_ conversation_.

"Yes, now please go before you wake Ms. Granger."

"I thought she hasn't had the potion yet?"

"Yes, well, she must've fallen asleep while I went to retrieve the potion."

"Mmmm. Well then, give her the potion."

She was fumbling with something behind her back, when Severus jumped behind her and snatched the bottle.

"Really, Poppy. I had no idea that the _Dreamless Sleep _drought had this shade of blue; it's usually a dark, midnight blue."

He uncorked the bottle and wafted the smell.

"And really, Poppy. I had no idea that the potion smelt like baby powder."

A look of sheer terror came across the old witch's face and Severus smirked, because he knew that the old bat knew what was coming next.

"Are you sure Poppy, because I could swear this is a Paternity Potion."

_No…_

"Are you sure? I must've grabbed the wrong vial by mistake."

"Hmm. You only have one, because I've only ever made you one. I mean, giving this to Ms. Granger, when she's still awake. How could you?"

_Shit! How did he know?_

At this, Madam Pompfrey was glaring butcher knives at him.

"Oh please, Poppy. I am the school's Potions Master! I can surely tell one potion from another!" Snape said, while turning to Hermione, still with her eyes closed shut. "And as for you, Ms. Granger, you need some sleep, because if you're late for my class tomorrow, you will be scrubbing cauldrons after dinner."

After Severus was done speaking, he turned to leave when he heard a strained voice, "Don't go, I need to talk to you, sir. Madam Pompfrey, would you please be so kind to leave? I need to ask the Potions _Master_, if he could do me a favor."

"Oh dear, I'll ask him for you," witch said, trying to make up for getting caught, but all she received was another nasty glare from Hermione.

"Alright then," she said and stalked off to her office.

"Severus, sit down," Hermione ordered.

He pulled up a chair next to Hermione.

"Hold on, I don't trust her. _Muffliato_!"

"Did Mr. Potter teach you that one?" Snape asked, disgusted.

"No, _you_ did," Hermione replied with fury.

"Alright, Ms. Granger, don't bite my head off," he said, earning yet another Snape-worthy glare from the young witch.

"We can't continue on, you and me, and you know it," she said, while putting a hand on her stomach. "I'd really want to, but _I_ can't, not like this." She said, putting her head down.

"Who's is it?"

"I'm not sure."

"Oh please, Hermione! I know damn well that you don't go around the God-forsaken castle sleeping with everybody; I know you know who's it is."

"And if you use legilimens on me, I'll hex you into next year, _and_ I'll tell McGonagall it's yours, even if it might not be."

This statement hit the old Potions Master like a ton of bricks.

"What do you _mean_, 'even if it _might_ not be'?" Severus seethed.

"Don't be stupid, Severus! If you're seriously asking that question, then get out."

"How do I know who you go around the castle sleeping with? I'm not an owl! If it is mine, then I have the right to know! I should have just let that old hag give you the potion!"

"Then you'd be out of a job right now!" Hermione said, tears now trickling down her rosy cheeks.

"Just get out, _now_!"

She looked up into his eyes; scared brown eyes meeting hurt black orbs, when a low, silky voice came into her mind, "I'll always love you, and I'll _never_ forget this."

"You BASTARD!" Hermione yelled, throwing the vase of flowers next to bed at his head, but it missed and hit the window above the door.

"I just wanted to let you know, now, good night, Ms. Granger," he said with his sadden, piercing black eyes meeting hers again.

Hermione flung herself of her pillow and cried herself to sleep."

That was the last time they really ever spoke, it was eleven years ago.


	2. Diagon Alley

**Disclaimer: As I said before, I don't anything Harry Potter, except maybe Janie, and I'm definitely not making **_**any**_** money off of this either.**

"Mum! Look what I got in the mail!" A young girl exclaimed, racing towards the kitchen, a letter held up in the air. "Aww, cool! Look at the crest on the back!"

As the little witch tore open her letter, sheer terror filled the young mother's face.

"Mum! I'm a witch! It says so right here!" The young girl said, poking the letter with her finger.

"This place, called Hogwarts, is accepting me in, to start school on September first! Hey, isn't that where you went?"

Hermione mother nodded.

"I can't wait! I heard all about Hogwarts from you and Uncle Ron and Uncle Harry! I have to owl them! Uncle Harry will be so proud!"

_I knew this day would come_, _it was inventible_. _I have so many things to go, and I have to go back _there. _I can't believe it has already been six whole years since I was in the Wizarding World, and boy, do I miss it_. _All the magic, old friends, and past_….._Oh no! I have to tell her father_!

Hermione had dreaded telling her father about Jane, or Janie as family called her. There would be many questions raised, especially if he was still teaching there; they're almost identical. Janie only had a few physical traits that resembled her, the rest were her father's. He would kill her; blast her into obliviation. Even Harry and Ron didn't know who the father was yet.

"Mum! Look at everything I need! A cauldron, books, and-ah, a wand! When can we fo and get them?" Janie asked excitedly.

"How about Saturday? If you want, you can invite Harry and Ron; Ginny might want to come too," Hermione said.

"Thanks Mum!" The young witch exclaimed and hugged her mother, before running up the stairs and into her room.

A voice came down the stairs, "What time should they meet us?"

"How about 10:30, at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Oh fizzer! I've never been there before!"

Hermione loved seeing her little girl so happy, especially when it came to Harry and Ron. Harry had been like the father Janie never had, and Ron, he was like her older brother. She had considered sending her daughter to a private Wizarding school in New Zealand, but Harry and Ron told her that it would be better for Janie to be around people that they knew and trusted. Although Hermione was still objective, she gave into her friend's endless badgering and gave in. Her only worry now was what to tell her father, Professor Severus Snape, the snarky Potion's Master. She was sure though that he already suspected something, after what had happened that night, eleven years ago.

---

Saturday did not come quick enough, for Janie, who wouldn't stop talking about it all week. At 10:15, she wanted to know why they still haven't left, and Hermione, sick of her daughter's babbling, walked out of their flat and out into the street, Janie tailing close behind her. They walked to the deserted alley about a block away and Hermione took her daughter's hand, and with a "pop," they were gone.

As the young girl opened her eyes again, she looked up smiling at her mother.

"Wow! I've never done that before either! That was awesome!" The young girl squeaked.

She gently grabbed her daughter's hand and lead her to an old looking pub. As Hermione pushed the door open, her daughter looked up at her and immediately questioned, "Hey? Why is it so dark in here? Can't you shoot some light out of the tip of your wand like with _Lumos_, or something?"

Chuckling, Hermione was about to explain when she heard two familiar voices coming from the back of the pub.

"Oi, Janie!"

"Over here," Harry exclaimed, waving them over.

"Uncle Harry, Uncle Ron!" The excited witch said as she ran towards the man with jet black hair, the other man with brilliant red hair, and the equally red-headed girl sitting next to him.

"Oi, Hermione! Have a seat!"

"No, mummy can't; she said we'd be in Diagon Alley before eleven o'clock," she said, while taking Harry's hand and tugging him up from his seat.

"Where are we going, Jaz?" Harry questioned. Jaz was the nickname Harry had called Janie since she was a little girl.

Everybody supported a wide grin as the little girl led Harry up and then froze, "Umm, Mum, where are we going? Because, I don't see any Wizard shopping place from here. It's just, dark and full of people I don't know, and it looks like they don't even know how to do magic!"

"Shhhh, Janie; it's right through here," Hermione said, leading the group to the stone wall in the back room of the pub. Hitting the right combination on the wall, the bricks magically deteriorated before them.

Janie stepped out into the crowded streets for the first time she could remember. Her mother had told her magical stories about the times that she visited the Wizarding shopping place and about all the stores that were held inside it. Her "uncles" also told her about Diagon Alley, and also some other things, that she would _never_ dream of telling her mother about.

Harry and Hermione smiled at each other when her daughter gasped, "Mum! Harry! Ron and Ginny. Look, there's a shop that sells potions, owls, stuff to write with, and…._wands_!"

The young girl ran and pressed her face to the window. Turning around, she exclaimed, "Can we please, please go in her?"

Seeing her mother nod, she ran into the shop, closely followed by Harry and Hermione (the shop was too small for the Ron and Ginny, so they went off on their own).

As they entered, they watched as the newly found witch looked around at the shelves of wands in amazement. As the two adults started looking around for Mr. Ollivander, a voice came from around the corner, "Ah, a returning couple! How marvelous." It was Mr. Ollivander.

_Oh my word, that old man is _still_ alive_.

"Oh no," said Harry. "We're not together."

Mr. Ollivander eyed the two mysteriously, and then turned to the small girl, taking her in her appearance. He looked up at Hermione and gave her a raised eyebrow, while looking her in the eye. Worried for her secret's sake, turned around to see her daughter watching them with curiosity.

"Well, Miss Granger," the old man said and seeing no objectives to her name, continued on. "Yes, let's see," he said moving ever so cautiously to the first row of wands and pulled a small box out. "Hmm, let's see," he said, handing the wand to the young girl.

She waved the wand and a purple jet shot out of the tip of the wand and knocked over the wall of boxes behind Harry.

"Alright, Miss Granger, try this one," he said, placing another wand in her hand. She waved the wand again and this time, a neon-orange light came out and shattered the front window behind the two adults, sending shards everywhere. Hermione grabbed her daughter, and Harry covered the two from any harm.

Taking back the wand yet again, Mr. Ollivander spoke, "Alright, Ms. Granger. Let's try one more, before you successfully harm the boy-who-lived."

Harry hated that phrase. Ever since the fall of Voldemort, he was treated like a hero. Everybody in the Order had been claimed heroes, even Severus Snape. It had turned out that Snape had killed a member of the Order who had taken the Polyjuice Potion, having Dumbledore safely hidden in Snape's quarters. Having Voldemort presume that the old wizard was dead, Draco was not punished with death, because he could not kill the old man. Nobody knew him as Harry, anymore; it was either "the boy-who-lived," "the boy-who-conquered," or his favorite, "the wonder-boy-hero." People know knew him all over for his looks, and not his scar, due to the fall of Voldemort. Any mark Voldemort had made painfully vanished, leaving only a faint outline.

As Harry looked back at the young witch, who had another wand in her hand. If Mr. Ollivander didn't find a wand that suited her, he would have some unpleasant things to say to that old man. But as the young girl flicked her wand, red and silver sparks flew from it and cascaded down onto the floor. "Ah, Miss Granger, you're wand is very interesting, yes, very interesting indeed," he said eyeing Hermione. "This wand is a bit complex, a very good combination, though. You're wand has an inner core of dragon heartstring and the smallest bit of unicorn hair. The wand itself is made up of the strongest, darkest color oak. It is a very powerful wand, good in all fields of magic." Mr. Ollivander bent down and whispered in her ear, "You should feel very special, not many witches or wizards are chosen for such special wands." As he got back up, a smile spread across the girl's face that seemed bigger than a quaffle.

"I can see were your parents' talents come in hand, especially your mother with the dragon heartstring that you have in your wand. And yes, I do see your father's magical abilities in there as well," the old man finished looking at Hermione.

Hermione looked like she was going to kill the old man.

"Well, I'd only know what the magical ability of your father, if I only knew who that was," he added quickly.

Hermione quickly paid for her daughter's new wand and left the store, having half-a-mind to leave the broken window, but she quickly repaired it anyways.

When they were far enough away, Hermione finally spoke, "I swear that man is finally going senile!"

"Well, you _did_ act a little strange when he appeared to know who Janie's father was-by the wand, of course."

"And _what_ is that supposed to mean?"

"Woah!" Harry turned around, putting his hands in front of him. "I just mean that, he remembers every person he's ever sold a wand to, right?"

"I suppose so, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"He probably knows from her complex wand," Harry replied to the now furious Hermione, "and certainly not from her similar appearance to _someone_ I know," he muttered under her breath.

"And WHAT is that supposed to mean?"

Apparently, he didn't say it too quietly though, because if Hermione was fuming now, nothing short of a miracle would help him now.

"What's what supposed to mean?" Harry asked innocently.

"Harry James Potter! I just heard you!"

"Well, you wouldn't have if you just told me who her father was."

"No," Hermione stated simply.

"I know it's not me and he certainly isn't Ron. I must admit though, there is a striking resemblance to two people I know," Harry said casually.

"Yeah, and who are they?" Hermione countered.

"Let's see, you and-"

"And who, Harry?

"I was going to say…"

"Mum, Uncle Harry! Where can we go next?" The young girl questioned stopping outside of Flourish and Blotts, Hermione's favorite store.

"We're _not_ finished here yet," she hissed to Harry.

"Here, Janie, we'll go into Flourish and Blotts, the book store right here. When we're done here, we'll go across the street to the Apothecary."

"Alright," an eager witch agreed.

Just then, Hermione looked through the Apothecary's window and saw none other than her old Potion's Master, Severus Snape.

_What is _he_ doing here? He _never_ comes in here_!

With panic written all over her features, she sent the innocent witch into the shop to look for any book that she wanted. Hermione spun around from the public's view and grabbed Harry's arm. "Harry, its Snape."

"What? And why would you be so concerned about him." Then realization hit the messy-haired boy, "Wait a second!" He said, spinning around to look at her, and then look at Jaz as she disappeared behind a shelf of books. "You mean to tell me that you don't want him to see you, because he's..."

"Shut up, Harry!" Please; go make sure he doesn't come over here, and if he does, get Janie out!"

Hermione now knew that her ever-guarded secret was known to Harry.

"I just don't want any first impressions, that's all."

"Oh, alright then," Harry said as he stalked across the street.

---

_What in Merlin's name are they doing here? You don't expect student shopping for another whole week. Wait a second, where's the student? There's the Boy-Wonder and the insufferable know-it-all, but where is her child? I'm sure she had it, because if you knew she was pregnant, then one could tell that she was expecting, by the time of graduation. Hmmm._

As the Potion's Master looked back out the window he saw the Boy-Wonder staring right back at him.

_Shit, he saw me. It looks like Granger, if that's still her name, pointed me out. She sure doesn't look like she had a kid, but why is Potter following her around here. Are they a couple? Why am I even thinking about this? Great, now he's coming across the street with a pad of parchment in his hand. Yes, maybe he is the father after all._

Severus quickly paid for all the potion ingredients and had them delivered back to Hogwarts.

_Great, now he's gone. With my luck, he's probably waiting right next to the door for me to come out_.

Severus looked across the street to find Hermione feeing into the book store.

_Thank the gods I have already been in there_.

Thanking the store owner (Snape was distracted), he made his way out of the shop and turned to walk down the street when he heard a voice that made him want to cringe.

"Good morning, Professor," the Boy-Who-Lived greeted him, before he had a chance to walk away.

"Good morning, Potter," growled the Potion's Master.

"So, what brings you down here to Diagon Alley?"

"I can go where ever I want, not that it's any of your business," he spat back.

"I was just wondering, since I never see you, but inside the castle."

"I do have a life, you know," he said while looking him in the eye; Harry was almost as tall as Snape now, granted that the Potions Master still had to look down to meet his eyes.

"Besides, Dumbledore wanted some extra potion ingredients." Snape knew he had to say something, otherwise, the man standing in front of him would never leave him alone.

"Don't you have everything the castle needs?"

"Take that up with the Headmaster."

As the Potions Professor went to leave, Harry kept talking.

"So, Professor, are you still teaching at Hogwarts?"

"Are you deaf? I just told you that I'm here for the Headmaster," Snape scolded.

"Why can't you just carry on a normal conversation?"

"I have better things to do than fraternize with past students."

"I'm not just an old student," Harry said, his gaze meeting the Professor's once again.

"Alright then, Mr. Potter."

"Wow, you just called me 'Mr. Potter'," a shocked Harry stated. "I guess you're human after all."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Snape hissed.

"How have you been, what, these past six years?"

"Fine, now, Mr. Potter, I have other things to be doing before I get back to the castle."

"But, Professor, I haven't talked to you in _such_ a long time."

"So, why start now?"

"Well, err…"

"Oh please, Potter; stop trying to hide Ms. Granger. I saw you two outside the shop," Snape said rolling his eyes.

"Err, you did?"

"Yes Potter, I am _not_ blind."

Harry went to interject, but was cut off."

"You can tell _Ms. Granger_ that I have already been in the bookstore and I'm leaving as soon as I pick up a crate of those blasted lemon drops for Albus."

As Snape turned to leave, he said over his shoulder, "Have fun with Ms. Granger."

The Professor left a dumbstruck Harry, until realization dawned on the young man for the second time that day.

"Ha-ha Snape! We are _not_ together!" Harry yelled down the crowded streets of Diagon Alley.


	3. Harry Knows Something

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. I am also not making any money off of this.**

* * *

Hermione looked up from the book she was reading to find that Harry was finally coming back. She put back the book on potions and waved Harry over, moving to a deserted part of the store.

"So?" Hermione asked impatiently.

"You'll want to hear about this one," Harry said in reply.

"C'mon, Harry, spit it out!"

"Alright, so I went over to him, trying to start a conversation."

"Snape and conversation? You've got to be kidding me."

"No, I'm not, and I actually got a small one out of him, but that's not all."

"Mm-hm."

"Well, I found out that he's still teaching at Hogwarts and he's leaving Diagon Alley soon. He said something about picking up a case of lemon drops for Professor Dumbledore.

_Hmm, those bloody lemon drops again_.

"And…" Harry trailed off.

"And what, Harry?" Hermione eyed him suspiciously.

"And, he knows you're here."

"What!?"

"He saw us before you went into the shop _and_ he knew it was you who sent me over here to prevent him from seeing you."

_Intellectual bastard_.

"I'm _not_ done talking to you, Hermione."

"What do you mea-"

"Alright Mum, I found all my school books. I also found a book on potions that seems interesting and a book with the hundred top witches and wizards in the past decade, and guess what! Almost your whole club, what was it? The Order is in it!"

"Yes, you can get it, hurry up, though. We're going to be late for lunch if you still want to go to the Apothecary.

"Alright, Uncle Harry, come with me," she said while pulling his hand.

"Hermione, I'm going to go with Janie. Besides, I want a copy of that book, maybe I'm in it!"

_That's the same old Harry, for you_.

---

Lunch was almost over when Harry whispered something in Hermione's ear that did not make her look pleased.

"Ron, Ginny, you wouldn't mind taking Janie out for a little bit, would you? I need to talk to Hermione," Harry said, earning another glare from Hermione.

"Sure, mate."

"No problem, Harry. Jane, did you get your parchment and quills yet?" Ginny asked as the three stood up to leave.

"Yeah, and Janie! Did you see the Quidditch shop yet?"

"Um, no and no. Mum said I'm not old enough to have a broomstick yet," the little girl replied slowly.

Growing up with two uncles and an "older sister" who loved Quidditch, only played a bigger part for the girl's love for the Wizarding sport.

"Hmmm," Ron bent down so only she could hear, "what if I send you the one we buy today for Christmas? That way, your mother won't know how you got it."

The young girl's face lit up with glee, "Bye Mum, Uncle Harry."

"Ronald!" Hermione said, sending him freezing in his tracks. "There will be no broomsticks, toy bludges, snitches, or quaffles. And no mini-broomsticks," she added "And if you just so happen to buy her one as a gift, I'll hunt you down."

With that, Ron looked slightly shocked and upset. Ginny grabbed his sleeve leading him out of the pub, "Don't worry Hermione. I'll make sure my dope-of-a-brother won't do or buy anything stupid."

"Thanks," Hermione said smiling.

"C'mon Hermione, we're going to the Four Broomsticks."

"The _Four_ Broomsticks?"

"Yeah, it's owned by the same person as the Three Broomsticks, except it's not located in Hogsmeade."

---

Harry had found a booth in the back of the pub, while Hermione ordered their drinks. Hermione had just sat down and Harry had already began pelting questions at her.

"What was that all about?"

"What was what all about?"

"Hermione, why were you avoiding Snape?"

"I dunno," she said, looking down.

"Oh please, Hermione. Why the sudden change in attitude?"

"What change? I didn't have a change in attitude towards him."

"I never said who it was towards, Hermione."

Hermione's cheeks started to turn pink.

"Yes, there was a change in your attitude towards Snape. You really seemed to…fancy…him during our seventh year. And then, suddenly, during the last few months of school, you just stopped talking about him."

"I DID NOT FANCY HIM!"

"Hmm, then what was, 'Professor Snape picked the most interesting lesson today!' or the time when you didn't know how to cut a newt's stomach? You had to do that for the Polyjuice Potion! You just wanted him to stand behind you while he breathed down your neck!"

"That. Is not. True," Hermione seethed. "Besides, what did you mean by Janie looking like 'someone you knew?'" Hermione said, desperately switching subjects.

"Well, she has certain similarities and qualities that someone I know has. She's average height for her age, maybe just a tad bit taller. She also has straight black hair and black eyes, all traits that you do not have," Harry pointed out.

"How do you know that nobody in my family has those traits? Besides, I'm not short anymore," Hermione countered.

"Hermione, I've met your parents before, and they look like you. You may not be short now, but you were in your first year," Harry replied.

"Just tell me who you think it is," Hermione said exasperated.

"Don't rip my head off, Hermione. But for some reason, she looks and sometimes acts oddly enough like an old Professor. And considering that little 'episode' we just had back there, I think you've been hiding Snape's kid from us the whole time."

Hermione was quite shocked. Not that he knew, she had been expecting that, but the way he told her who he taught the father of Janie was. When Harry saw the shocked look dawn upon Hermione's face and her becoming suddenly quiet, he decided to speak.

"Hermione, no; she can't be his. I know you liked him, but not that much. Wait, did he like you too or-"

"Yes, Harry he did. He didn't drug me or rape me, if that's what you're thinking, and I didn't do anything of the sort to him either."

"So, that's Janie's father?"

"Yes."

"Why? Why Snape, Hermione? He's the greasy-old-git from down below! How could you?" Harry asked softly.

Seeing the look of sadness play across Hermione's features, Harry immediately shut his trap and put his hand on hers.

"Just don't tell Ron, alright Hermione? He'd go ballistic. Does Snape know?"

"I'm pretty sure he did, the night I found out that I was pregnant from Madam Pomfrey. He walked in and saved my tail when she was about to administer a Paternity Potion without my consent."

"Do you think he was eavesdropping?" Harry asked.

"I wouldn't doubt it."

"If knew, then why didn't he confront you? I mean, he had until the end of school and then again in Diagon Alley, not to mention another eleven years," Harry pondered.

"During the last few months at school, he was really angry with me. He hardly looked at me and tried to pick out any flaw in any potions I had made. As for the eleven years, I don't know why he didn't even attempt to come after me. In Diagon Alley, he saw me and you, but he didn't see Janie. I pushed her into the bookshop as soon as I saw him. Then he saw me and you together, Ron and Ginny nowhere to be seen; he probably thought that we were together."

"He did make a comment about that - you and me being together as a couple. I told him it wasn't true."

"Drinks?" The waitress asked, placing down the drinks. In front of Harry, she placed a Butterbeer and in front of Hermione, she placed a slightly darker looking butterbeer.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Harry asked, sounding too much like Ron.

"Oh, this? It's a butterbeer with a shot of rum added with it."

"You're drinking, Hermione? But you have a child to take care of!" Harry exclaimed.

"Take it easy, Harry. It's not like I'm going to get drunk, that would be irresponsible of me," Hermione replied.

"You sure?"

"Yes, Harry."

"Okay, good. Now, back to the topic of Snape. Are you going to tell him before she goes to Hogwarts? There's no doubt that Dumbledore or McGonagall with notice the similarities, along with a few other professors and older students."

"Ron doesn't know," Hermione stated.

"Ron's not observant. If it's not a quaffle, bludger, or a woman, he's not going to notice."

During Ron's vacation from Auror duty, he teaches a young Quidditch league. Everybody had gotten mad at him a few years back, because he wanted to become a professional Keeper, and leave the world of being an Auror.

"Ginny has never said anything," Hermione added.

"Ginny thinks that she looks like someone else. When I'm in the same room as Janie, she often eyes me and then her. She eyes the black hair, and then mine. But I can tell, she's at a lost for Janie's eye color."

"Do you actually think someone at Hogwart's will notice?" Hermione asked, looking up shyly.

"It's going to be hard, Hermione; especially if Dumbledore sees them in the same room together. Then suspicions will definitely be raised if she gets put in Slytherin. Did you tell anyone else?"

"I've considered telling Dumbledore, but I didn't want to get Snape in to trouble, seeing as I was pregnant before school had gotten out. I didn't want him to lose his job; he'd be furious if I went to Dumbledore, especially if I went to McGonagall."

"Yes, McGonagall would have a field day if she knew something that Snape didn't, especially something with such a great magnitude as this. But, you've got to admit, their rivalry between their houses is hilarious. When I went to a Quidditch game last year, every time Gryffindor scored, Professor McGonagall would knock Snape in the shoulder, and he'd roll his eyes. She acts really childish sometimes; that alone makes me wish I was back at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, me too. You should have been there the time she had to sub for Professor Snape in potion's class, it was priceless! Her face was hilarious as she looked at all the ingredients we had to use. Then she went into his office and came back screaming. Apparently, Professor Snape was bottling ingredients before he left and laying on his desk was a frozen mandrake with its teeth bared. After that, she watched all our cauldrons, making many funny faces. I swear, Gryffindor had never gotten so many house points in a potion's lesson."

"And where was I?"

"In the hospital wing, along with Professor Snape after the third Quidditch match, remember? A bludger knocked you off your broomstick and you went flying into the teacher's stands. As McGonagall saw you coming, she ducked and you knocked out Snape. That's why you both missed potions."

"Oh yeah," Harry said, his cheeks growing in color. "You try standing on your broomstick to get the snitch, when a bludger comes and knocks the wind out of you, by slamming into your stomach. Then, flying through the air, knocking Snape through the benches and landing on the stairs, which he broke, by the way. I think the stairs knocked him out, because he distinctly said, 'Get off of me, Potter!' before he hit."

"Yeah, well at least you only broke a few ribs. Poor Professor Snape had a concussion, three broken ribs and two nails that went into his back and lodged into his backbone."

"How could you remember all of that?" Harry asked, earning a glare from Hermione. "Urgh…. I had no idea," he continued. "Too bad it's too late to apologize to him."

"Harry, it's never too late."

"Good, that means you're going to tell him about Janie, right?"

"Well, it seems that I have to now, doesn't it?"

"How?" Harry asked.

"How what?" Hermione replied.

"How are you going to ask him?" Harry went into further detail.

"Well," Hermione said, becoming quiet for several minutes, and then spoke again. "I'll ask him to come over to help me with a potion that has become unstable, and it's prudent that he come at once. And when I hear a knock at the door, I'll have Janie answer it, and then you'll take her out for the afternoon, because I don't want her to hear the conversation that we're going to have."

"I'll take her out?" Harry questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, please Harry, she loves it when you do. She always has so much fun when you two go out together."

Harry nodded in agreement.

"Besides, she says….she says that you're….that you're like the father she never had," Hermione said, tears rolling down her cheeks, her eyes looking down.

Harry tilted her chin up, so that she could see his face. His face looked sadden now, "Hermione, that would have never had happened if you just told him about Janie," Harry said concerned. It didn't matter though, because Hermione gave him another icy glare.

"If you had told him that night, or at least before you graduated, and if he really did like you, you two still might be together now."

"Don't say that, Harry! He probably would have wanted me to get an abortion."

"Not if he truly like you, or maybe even _loved_ you. He would have let you have whatever you wanted."

As a shocked Hermione began to speak, she was cut off by a nod from Harry and she then quickly dried her eyes with her sleeve as she heard her daughter's laughter coming towards her. As Hermione turned around, she saw her daughter walking to the back with Ginny and Ron following her. Her daughter was carrying a package that looked oddly enough like a small broomstick.


	4. The Plan

"Ronald! What did I tell you before you left with Jan?" Hermione then turned to Ginny, "Ginny! I thought you were going to be watching him!"

"I tired, Hermione, really, I did! But when she was riding the broom all over the shop, it was just too cute to deny her of it. She's so cute like that!"

Hermione let out a sigh, "I guess it's alright. Ginny, I hope you never have kids, because then they would have all of Diagon Alley in their bedroom."

"Uh-huh, very funny, Hermione."

"Mum! Mum!" Jane said while tugging on her mother's sleeve, "Look what Ginny go me, as an early birthday present! Even though it's really early, though." Her daughter said, as she held up a beautiful gold necklace with a snitch pendant on it. Hermione picked up the necklace and examined the snitch as her jaw dropped. The snitch itself was made up of beautiful golden gems, while the wings were made up of sparkling diamonds. Giving her best friend a stern look she said, "Ginny! How much did this cost you? You know I don't have money problems!"

"Don't worry, Hermione. I know you don't have money problems, and nor do I, with this new job. Besides, I missed her birthday last year, while I was in training to become a Healer."

"Alright. Well, there better not be another surprise."

"No, there's not," Ginny replied.

"Oh yes there is!" Ron exclaimed.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione turned to face him.

"Harry, in the book Janie has, you're the second-best wizard! Dumbledore's the first, but one could only expect that."

"Yeah. That's all I need. 'Hey look, Mum, that's the best wizard in the world!'."

"Never mind that, Harry! Look at the headline!" Ron said, planting the book firmly on the table, turning the book to the third page.

The group read:

_Harry Potter: The Boy-Who-Lived_. _Vanquisher of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named; savior of the Wizarding World_.

Then under his moving picture, it read: _Youngest Quidditch Seeker in a century. Youngest person to win the Triwizard Tournament (last to be held), at only fourteen year at the time! Read the full biography for more!_

"Hmm, I figured I be in there," Harry said, a little annoyed at what they had wrote.

"Yeah, and Hermione, me and you are in there too!" Ron said. "And guess what- Snape is in there too. In fact, I think he made number three! Can you believe that that greasy-old git made it before me?"

"Well, Ronald, he did more things than you have ever done," Hermione replied.

"You're defending _him_? What has he ever done for you?" Ron spat.

Harry, seeing Hermione getting aggravated at his red-headed friend, but in, "She's right, Ron. He risked his life for more years than we were alive, at that time."

"Besides, Ron, remember when the Aurors had to go into the cave while you were in training?" Ginny asked, trying to drag the attention away from Hermione.

"No."

"I'm sure you do, because after you saw _a_ spider some out of the cave, you immediately voted yourself as the 'guard'. Then, when Harry told you there were more spiders outside than in, you ran into the cave, nearly knocking Remus and Mad-Eye Moody over into a puddle."

"Oh, that cave," Ron said, his ears turning as bright as his hair.

"Yeah, and the best part was when Moody flung a dead spider at his head; he totally freaked out!" Harry said, chuckling.

The group spent a little while longer discussing old memories, when Ron decided it was time for him to leave. Apparently, his mother was cooking his favorite dinner, and he didn't want to be late.

Walking back to the apparition point, Hermione put up many protests, because her daughter decided to ride her mini-broom back. Harry had to reassure her the whole way back that her daughter was only a few feet off the ground, and that she wouldn't break any bones.

Smiling, Ron and Ginny apparated back to the Burrow, leaving the last three to apparate back to Hermione's home.

Harry and Hermione sat at their kitchen table dinking tea, while her daughter flew around on her broomstick.

"Harry, did you really mean what you said back in the pub…about Professor Snape?"

"Yes, Hermione. If I really and truly loved someone, then I would let them do what they wanted concerning an unborn child, if there were no extreme dangers."

"How would you know Snape would do the same thing? I mean, he's Snape."

"Yes, I know that, but if he truly loved you…"

"I don't know if he 'truly' loved me."

"Did he tell you that he loves you?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Hermione, you should have told him regardless, and you know it. How would you feel if you found out that _he_ was holding _your_ daughter from you, for eleven years?"

"I'd feel like shit, and totally lost. So, I guess that's why I'm going to tell him, next weekend, before Jane goes to Hogwarts."

"But that's still nearly three weeks away-" Harry was cut off by a shriek.

"WEEEEEE," Jane shouted.

"Janie? OH MY! Honey! Don't use the remembral as a snitch!"

Harry was now regretting that he told Janie how he became a seeker in the first place.

"Sorry Mum."

Walking back to the kitchen, Hermione grumbled, "I swear that girl is going to be the death of me, if she keeps pulling stunts like this."

"Yeah, especially when you tell Snape."

"Harry, don't joke about that. I've already figured he'll hex me into next year. But,….what if he doesn't want anything to do with her?" Hermione said, as she felt unwanted tears welling up in her eyes.

"How can he not? She looks just like him! How many people do you know has raven-black hair, and black eyes that will melt your heart? Not to mention a glare that will send a shiver down your spine."

"Only two; but I'm not sure Professor Snape's eyes will 'melt your heart'."

Harry chuckled, "Yeah, you're right. So, enlighten me on how you're going to tell the snarky, old, potion's professor."

"Well, that's one way to describe him. But anyways, I plan to do it next Saturday. Like I said earlier, I'm going to invite him over, and have Janie answer the door. Then, after they have spoken, you pop out and take her out for the afternoon."

"I know, but won't you think Snape'll think she's mine, then?"

"Not when he sees the family pictures in the living room, there's no men in them, except for two of them."

"We'll hope so, because I know he thinks it's mine."

"Not after he comes in."

"Alright, off that topic. Now, I doubt Snape will come voluntarily; what are you going to write to him?

Hermione was silent for several minutes, before getting up and retrieving a quill and parchment.

"You know how I privately teach young students the basics to potion-making, before school? Well, I had to brew Veritaserum for my boss, and I could write him saying that I messed it up. Veritaserum is very hard and dangerous to brew. If you add too many stirs, or too little of the flobberworm powder, the potion will become unstable."

"Oh."

"Let's see," Hermione said, with the quill in her hand, as she started writing.

Finally, after many failed attempts, she finally had a worthy copy.

_Dear Professor Snape,_

_Professor Snape, I have been faced with a problem, that I believe only you will be able to fix. You see, while brewing the Veritaserum potion for the company I work for, I heard a loud knock on my door, and accidentally stirred a half too much, right before the third stage. I have tried to vanish the potion and start over, but the potion is now resisting magic. I fear for the people who live near me and for those who live in the same building as I do, if the problem is not fixed promptly. I have decided to come to you with this problem, due to the fact that I have seen no one better in potions in all my years. If you do decide to help, I live at 1609 Willow Drive; it is a Muggle neighborhood. I am sad to say that I do not have a properly working fireplace, so flooing over is an impossibility. Thank you, and I really would appreciate your help._

_Sincerely,_

_Hermione Granger_

_P.S.,_

_Professor, the potion is now a brilliant shade of violent purple and is now bubbling profusely. _

"There, that ought to bring him over hear."

"Why? What does the potion do when it's like that?"

"You really didn't pay attention in potions, did you?"

Harry shook his head, "You know I never did."

"Well, usually in about an hour, after it turns that color, everything within 20 blocks of the cauldron gets blown up. And I told him that he was the best Potion's Professor I have ever seen. Besides, I also told him that it was a Muggle neighborhood."

"Hermione! I never knew you to be so cunning! Telling him all that, just to get him here? Wow. He's going to be pissed when there really isn't a potion about to blow up and wipe out an entire Muggle neighborhood. And he'll certainly appreciate not being able to floo here."

"Yeah, he'll be in for a bright day."

"Hey, Mum, Uncle Harry, come over by the staircase, I have to show you something!"

Hermione and Harry cautiously got up, eyeing each other curiously. As they made their way to the front of the stairs, they were meet with about a dozen pillows stacked at the foot.

"Janie, what are all these pillows for?" Hermione curiously asked her daughter.

"To protect me," came Janie's voice from somewhere down the stairs.

"To protect you? From what?"

"WATCH OUT!" Janie yelled, running out of her room, and jumping on her broom like it was a surfboard.

"JANE ELICE GRANGER!" Shrieked Hermione.

As her daughter landed on her mini-broomstick, it flew out from under her feet and flew across the room.

"JANE!" Her mother yelled.

The helpless witch flew through the air and just as she was about to fly over them, Harry ran back and caught her safely in his arms. Setting her down, she looked up at her mother, giving her her famous puppy-dog eyes.

"Jane Granger! You could have seriously been hurt! You could have hurt Harry!"

"I could have hurt you," she but in.

"Yes, you very well could have, but you were aimed right at Harry.

"And I could have ruined my broom too!" The little girl added, earning another glare from her mother.

"Alright Mum, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry."

A few moments of silence passed after Hermione nodded. Just as she was about to turn around and go back into the kitchen, her daughter spoke again, "You've gotta admit though, that was awesome!" Her daughter said smirking in that all too familiar way.

_Gods, I hate it when she does that_. _She reminds me so much of him when she smirks, it almost makes me really miss him_.


	5. Snape Finds Out

Another week had already gone by and it was soon time for Hermione to send her letter off to her dear Potion's Professor. Hermione figured that by the time he had gotten the letter, it would be around 2:30 in the afternoon. Sighing, she attached the letter to he owl, Nova's, leg. And with the opening of a window, the owl was off.

"So Hermione: Harry began, "what are you going to do for the time-being?"

"Just wait. I've already though about what I am going to say all week. If I just think about it now, I'll just end up doubting myself."

Harry put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Well, let's hope everything goes alright."

It was 2:10 when Severus was in eating lunch in the Great Hall and an owl dropped a letter in his pumpkin juice.

_Professor Severus Snape_, the heading of the envelope read in a neat, cursive handwriting. Tearing open the letter, his eyes wondered from line-to-line, before he stuffed the letter inside his robe pocket. He was just about to leave the staff table, when he heard one of his colleagues speak to him.

"Severus, where are you going in such a rush?" A very curious Professor McGonagall inquired.

"Potion trouble," Severus mumbled.

"With who? Did the Ministry mess up another potion again?"

"No, it is Ms. Granger who needs help this time."

"My word, Hermione Granger? I haven't spoken to her in quite a while! Please tell her that I say 'hello'."

"That's if I don't get blown up in the process."

"What?"

"It appears that Ms. Granger has some how messed up the Veritaserum potion right before the third stage."

Minerva had a confused look on her face.

Rolling his eyes, Severus put it into terms she might be able to understand, "It's like a bomb will explode and everything within twenty blocks will be desecrated."

The old woman's eyes were now practically bulging out of her head.

"Severus, do try and be careful," the old Headmaster warned as Snape strode out of the Great Hall.

_Bloody Gryffindors and their always messing up their potions. Well, at least it's not Longbottom, who would have found a way to wipe out all of London while creating a simple boil-curing potion_.

Severus thought as he walked out of the gates of Hogwarts and disappeared with a slight 'pop'."

'Knock, knock, knock."

"Oh, gods, he's here! And he's fifteen minutes early! Janie, get the door!" A frantic Hermione called.

Severus went to knock again, but the door opened and revealed a young girl, a young girl who looked very familiar.

As he took in the young girl's appearance, he noticed several similar features that she had with somebody. She had long, straight, raven-black hair and a pair of beautiful black eyes. He also noticed that she had slightly paler skin than normal, but rosy-pink cheeks.

She stood there with a slightly confused look on her face, and he wondered if something was wrong within the household.

"Well, Mister, are you going to stand out there all day?"

Severus shook his head and entered the warm household while the little girl shut the door behind him.

_No, she can't be. She's Potter's, not mine…_

Severus tried reassuring himself.

"Hey, I know who you are!" The little witch exclaimed while left to fetch her new book; Severus tensed at her exclamation.

"You're Professor Snape, the third best wizard in the whole world, since I was born! It says so right here, in this book."

"Yes, that's me-"

"Janie, that's what my friends and family call me. Wow! I've met the second and third best wizard in the world! This is so cool!"

Turing around, the young girl yelled, "Mom! Professor Snape is here!"

"I'll be right there," came Hermione's voice from a distance.

_Really, there's a potion about to blow and she's taking her time, unless…Unless this has nothing at all to do with a potion. Oh shit_.

"No thanks. Ms. Granger, where is the potion?"

"What potion, sir? That green, smelly one that she won't help me with?"

_Green, she said it was purple_.

"Mummy won't let me help, because she said that it's too dangerous."

"You like potions?" Severus asked, crossing his arms, his brow furrowed.

"No sir, I love potions! It's so much fun adding things together."

_No, she can't be_.

"Janie," came Harry's voice.

_What the hell is he doing here? I thought they weren't together_.

"Ooooo, Mr. Snape, this is my uncle, Harry! He's in the book too," she said pointing to the book she had set down. "My other uncle is in there, along with some of my mother's friends," she added, while thumbing through the pages of the book, showing him several people he rather never talk to again.

"Is your father in there too?" Snape asked stealthily.

Receiving an angry look from Harry, he raised a questioning eyebrow.

The young raven-haired girl looked up to him, her featured suddenly saddened, "Professor, sir, I don't have a father. Or, at least, I don't know who it is…" she trailed off.

Snape was slightly shocked, although he didn't show it.

_Nope, I shouldn't have come at all, that's for sure_.

Just as Harry was about to throw something out at Snape, Hermione came in the room and hugged her daughter goodbye.

"You be nice to Uncle Harry, understand?"

"Yes Mum."

Harry opened the door, stepped out, and held it open for Janie to walk through.

"Oh, and Janie, don't bring any pets home this time," Hermione sternly told her daughter.

"Okay," her daughter said, folding her arms and marching out the door.

Turning to her former professor, she saw that he had raised an eyebrow.

"Last time she went out, she brought home a frog. Then before that, a bunny, and before that, she brought home a baby raccoon," Hermione told her professor, offering him a seat.

"Ms. Granger, where is the potion?" He asked, his patience suddenly wearing thin.

"Oh, hold on, I'll get it."

_Is she mad? Bringing an unstable potion out here?_

While Hermione was gone, Severus took it upon himself to look around the room. It didn't help that he was curious about his former student, never less her mysterious daughter.

As he looked around the room, he saw what appeared to be an entertainment center that held a Muggle television, a box that said 'DVD Player' and numerous volumes of what appeared to be very thin books. On top of the center, were what appeared to be pictures. He stood up to get a better view of the pictures and walked over to where they stood.

There was a picture of the Golden Trio after graduation, which he was surprised she had up, a picture of Ms. Granger and her daughter, who appeared to be five at the time. There was also a recent picture of her daughter and another recent picture of mother and daughter, together. The last picture was of the Golden Trio, the young girl, those two foolish Weasley twins and their sister.

As Hermione appeared again, Severus went out to help her, when he froze. She didn't have a cauldron in her hand, but a small, sealed, brown box.

"Ms. Granger, the potion-"

"Professor, take a seat."

"Before you knocked, I had managed to obtain pepperwings to stabilize the potion. My company I work for, decided that they didn't need the potion anymore, so you can have it, if you want it," she said, motioning towards the brown box. "I assure you, there's nothing wrong with the potion, I had Harry test it."

"You tested this potion on Potter?"

"Yes. Sadly, _Mr_. Potter won't be able to lie for a few more hours."

"Unfortunate for him. Miss Granger, you know the importance to brew dangerous-reacting potions away from distractions."

"Where else am I to brew potions, Professor? I already have a room set up, solely for that purpose."

"And you shouldn't let your daughter near dangerous potions, something could happen."

_Who is he to tell me what my daughter can and cannot do?_

"And how do you know about that?" Hermione inquired.

"She told me when you were not present."

"I see. Well, did you two talk?"

"Oh yes we did, Ms. Granger."

Hermione did not like where this was going.

"Something most interesting popped up. I'm now glad that I didn't ask _Mr_. Potter as to why your daughter would say such a thing. It was actually quite heart-rending, really."

"What did she tell you?" Hermione's voice becoming bitter, "Better yet, what did _you_ say to her?"

"She was merely showing me that book she has over there, and was pointing out people she knew. And when she didn't mention it, I asked her if her father was in there."

"You WHAT?"

"Yes, Ms. Granger. And you know what she told me? She told me that she didn't have a father and she didn't know who he was. And I'm curious, Ms. Granger, to why you hid her and avoided me at Diagon Alley? And here, today, she lets me in."

"Professor-" Hermione started, but her Professor had gotten up to look over at her pictures that she had set up on the entertainment center. Picking up a picture, he examined it while he held it in his hands.

"I was going to tell you-"

"Tell me what? You made it quite clear to me that night. You know, at a first glance, she looks a little like Potter's kid. But your daughter has told me that he is her uncle. And no, Ms. Granger, I didn't ask her if he was. But, when you look at the picture more closely, she has these _outstanding_ black eyes."

"Professor, sit down," she said, indicating a seat for him to sit down in.

"I'm really, really sorry about that night; I didn't know what to do. I should have never spoken to you like that."

"Well, it's a little too late to take anything back."

"But," she said forcefully, telling him not to interrupt her again, "you were _right_, I did know who Janie's father was last night. I was too scared to tell anybody the truth; too nervous of what they might do if they found out the truth."

"Do what, exactly, Ms. Granger?" Severus said, his patience wearing thinner.

Her silence didn't help him.

"Who's the father, Ms. Granger?"

Twiddling her fingers, Hermione spoke inaudibly, "I was going to tell you sooner, but…"

"Ms. Granger! Who. Is. The father?" He asked, this time, more forcibly.

Sighing, Hermione spoke looking directly into his eyes, "You are."

Standing up, Severus put his hands on his hips and held his head down in thought, then he started pacing around the room.

_No, I will not hex her_. _I will not hex her into obliviation_. Severus thought over and over in his head. Severus felt like his heart was mercilessly ripped out of his chest, torn up into thousands of little pieces, and then thrown down on a parade, like confetti.

"I really was going to tell you sooner, but I didn't want you to take her away from me."

At this, Severus looked at her, fury written in his eyes, "Why would I take her away from you?" He said, while bits of his raven hair fell onto his face.

"I didn't know if you wanted a child. I didn't know if you would make me have an abortion, because I was still in school. Then-"

"Why?" Snape spat. "You _never asked me_. You _never talked to me_ about this, or _anything_ of the sort. It _you told me_, we probably could have found other options! I _loved_ you, remember? We _loved_ each other! You told me! Why would I let the woman I love give up _our_ child?" Snape finished, slightly out of breath, from hardly breathing in between sentences.

"But I didn't want to get you into trouble!" The once sitting Hermione stood up. "You could have been fired! Then the baby would have had two parents who couldn't provide for her. And Lord Voldemort was _still_ out there! Him knowing of Janie's parentage would have put us _all_ in danger!"

"Yes, but we could have worked that out with Albus! He would have found a solution to keep _all_ of us safe! If you had just told me, we would have been fine! If you told me, I wouldn't have missed out on so much!"

Severus stopped as he saw tears welling up in her eyes.

"What now, Ms. Granger?"

Sinking back down on the couch, Hermione spoke, covering her face with her hands, "I should have told you. Now I realize the biggest mistake of my life," Hermione looked up into Snape's eyes, which were currently hiding any emotion, "you would have made such a great father, I see that now. I feel so stupid."

"That you should feel." Snape said, his eyes suddenly becoming a burning fire, "What do you mean, 'would have made a great father'? Am I still not her father? I'm breathing, aren't I?" Snape was rightfully fuming now.

"I didn't mean it like that! Of course you're her father, and you're always going to be, nobody can stop that."

"And who would stop that?"

"WILL YOU LISTEN? If you keep interrupting me-"

"Really now, Ms. Granger, what will you do to me?"

"Shut your trap, or I'll shut it for you!"

For the first time, Snape looked shocked.

"You're going to be her father. I was worried that Voldemort might try to spilt you and Janie up! But that's not going to happen anymore; I was afraid that he would take you away from her forever. But now he's gone, and we are all still here! She needs you now, she won't stop asking about her father, and I can't deny her of that any more. So when you decide to come, we'll be ready."

Before Snape got to give his response, Harry walked through the door.

"Sorry, 'Mione, but we had a little accident."

Janie walked through the door holding her nose with her hand, blood trickling through her fingers.

"What happened?" Hermione exclaimed, jumping up, while ridding any proof that she had been crying.

"Well, err…We went to the park, and there were no Muggles around, so, umm…."

"Harry?"

"Well, she had somehow brought that broomstick of hers along, so she decided to chase me on it, but don't worry, nobody saw us. When I saw that she had her broomstick, I apparated us to a park enclosed my evergreen trees, and don't worry 'Mione, there were no Muggles around. And then, she started chasing me, and…"

"And what, Harry?" Hermione spat with venom, while leading her daughter by her free hand to the bathroom.

"Well, I jumped over a bench, and the broom, well, the broom didn't go that high. And well, the broom's end got stuck in one of the many holes on the bench, and it got stuck, sending Janie flipping through the air."

"Flipping?"

"Yes, she was yelling with glee. Then, she flew and hit, well, it was a wooden base to enclose a tree, and well, that's where her face landed. Her nose…"

"It's not broken, is it?" The once quiet Severus Snape asked, still standing where he was when Harry had first come in.

"No, I don't think so," Harry said, giving his old professor a questioning eyebrow, "Why the sudden interest, Snape?"

"HARRY!"

"What?"

"He knows," she said quietly.

"Oh," was all Harry said.

"You mean to tell me, that _he_ knows? He knew, _before_ I did?" Snape spat, his eyes blazing dangerously.

"Professor, she didn't tell me, honestly. I guessed who it was last week, at Diagon Alley, after I saw her reaction to your presence. I assure you, I'm the only one who knows."

"Well, let's just hope that the Veritaserum potion still runs in your veins, boy."

Sweeping up his package that Hermione had given him, he left with a simple, "I must be going now, Ms. Granger. Good day."

And within a second, the Potion's Master was gone with another slight, 'pop'."

"He knows what, mummy?" Came the voice of her daughter.

"Nothing sweetie, nothing of any great concern at the moment."

It was six in the evening and Severus Snape sat in his trashed quarters, drinking firewhiskey shots left and right. His curiosity finally getting the better of him, he picked up the brown package that was curiously big for a vial of Veritaserum potion.

As he ripped open the package, he took out the small vial and placed it on the table next to him, revealing a piece of metal, with a black velvet rectangle on the back. He took it out, revealing a piece of paper with writing on it.

_I'm really sorry that I have hidden her from you for so long. I deeply regret it, but please, don't hold it against your daughter. _

_P.S. Take good care of this. It's the only one I have of her like this_.

He flipped the metal object around, and his heart skipped a beat; it was a wizard picture of his daughter smiling, and then giggling. Along with the picture, was a folded piece of paper, tucked into the edge of the frame.

Severus gently took out the piece of paper, and unfolded it, it was his daughter's birth certificate. Starting at the middle, and traveling up, he read:

_Child's sex: Female_

_Height: 16 inches_

_Weight: 7 lbs. 11 oz._

_Full name: Jane Elise Snape_

**A/N: Once again, thank you to all who took their time to read and review this story. I made a mistake last chapter of spelling Jane's middle name wrong. I spelt it with a "c" in stead of an "s". Well, I hope you all like this chapter!**


	6. A Punishment is in Order

The next morning found a very awake Severus Snape going to a very unaware Albus Dumbledore's office, with his new package in hand.

As he said the password to the gargoyle statue (shocktarts) and he was met with the sight of a figure descending the staircase, McGonagall.

"Why good morning, Severus. I see that everything went well yesterday?"

"Just brilliant."

"Oh, good!" The witch said, not moving.

_Oh, she wants an answer from her greeting_. _Well, I never asked her, and she won't leave until I tell her something, oh well._

"Ms. Granger says 'hello' and that she wishes to know how you're doing."

Seeing her face light up, he quickly added, "She said she misses everyone very much."

_Good, that ought to shut her up until the night before school starts about her past students. She's always pointing out her past Gryffindors in that bloody newspaper_.

"Thank you, Severus, I need to go and write her now," the witch said, bustling down the hallway.

Rolling his eyes, Severus continued to walk up the already moving staircase. He always walked the movie staircase, much to his students and Minerva's dismay; they could never keep up with him. He finally reached the oak doors and knocked when a warm voice spoke, "Enter."

As Severus opened the door, he was greeted with a happy voice, "Ah, Severus, m' boy! To what pleasure do I owe this visit? I take it everything went well yesterday, you're still in one piece."

Severus shot his old friend a glare, "Yes, Ms. Grangers seemed to fix the problem before I had arrived."

"I always knew she had a sharp mind, lemon drop?"

"No thanks."

"Did the potion turn out as expected?"

Opening the box, Severus pulled out a small vial, placing it on the Headmaster's desk.

"See for yourself."

Dumbledore picked up the vial and uncorked it, wafting the smell and taking in the color when he let out a small "mmm." The potion had no smell, and was a dark shade of green.

"Was the potion tested?"

"Yes."

"By whom?"

"Ms. Granger said she tested it on Mr. Potter."

"Did it work?"

"She assured me that it did."

"Good, good. Well then, this is an exquisite batch, as I do say so myself."

"Yes, it is a good vial."

"This is all of it?"

"Yes, her company did not have any use for it after all."

"Ay yes, I believe she is a private potion's instructor."

"She's a what?"

"Yes, m' boy. She has also taking a liking to potion-brewing."

"She's not the only one," Severus muttered.

"I beg your pardon?"

Sighing, Severus took out the picture of his daughter and handed it over to his old friend.

"Oh, she's beautiful, Severus! She looks just like you," he said while looking over at his friend, and then back over to the picture frame. "Who's is she?"

Sighing again, he pulled out the piece of parchment that was his daughter's birth certificate and handed that over as well, "She's my daughter."

"How marvelous!" The man exclaimed. "Why wasn't I notified about this?" He said while reading over the birth certificate, stopping before he got to the parent's names, wanting to hear her mother's name from himself.

So with an elevated voice tone, he asked, "And who's the mother?"

Snape growled.

_I'm sure that man already knows, why's he asking me, I don't know._

"Ms. Granger."

"Really now?"

"Yes, Albus."

"Hmm. And why didn't she tell you before?" The old man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She had many reasons, but the only one that seems adequate enough for a 'good' reason, was the fear of Voldemort. She didn't want me nor the baby harmed."

"Well, that is a good reason."

"But still, she should have told me who the father was," he said crossing his arms with a scowl.

"You knew she was pregnant?"

"Yes."

"How, may I ask?"

"I was merely passing by the hospital wing, and I overheard what Madam Pompfrey was telling her."

"And you didn't come and tell me?"

"No."

"But did you go and talk to her?"

"Yes."

"And what did she say?"

"She told me she didn't know who the father was. But when I went to help her with her 'problem,' I had found out she actually did know who the father was, but didn't tell me, due to the possible dangers."

"I see. Have you found out if she will be attending Hogwarts? I have yet to look at the incoming list of students this year."

"It appears so."

"Good, good. I'm glad," he said while looking at the picture some more, he said, "She's really precious, Severus, don't let her get away."

"I don't plan too."

"Either of them," he added, getting an unexplainable look from his younger friend.

"I'll get to meet her one day, right Severus?"

"Of course, Albus."

As Severus got up to leave, Albus made no motion of giving back his belongings.

"Not just yet, Severus. I am curious as how Ms. Granger had a child, ah yes, just six months after graduation?"

Severus was silent.

"Just as I thought. Although, as happy as I am for you, isn't that against the school rules?"

"Yes, sir," Severus mumbled.

"And I assume it was consensual?"

He nodded.

"You could have waited until _after_ graduation, Severus, where no costs would have been made with your position."

"Sir?"

"Hell, you could have waited until the second after graduation, when the rules would have been void."

Severus looked like he had just smelled something foul.

"Yes, Severus. Don't worry, though, I won't fire you, you'll have to thank Ms. Granger for that; you know have a daughter to help support. Hmm, let's see…Ah, 150 points from Slytherin, _Mr_. Snape."

Snape looked absolutely dumbfounded.

"Yes, Mr. Snape, Slytherin will be starting out in the negatives this year. And, you're suspended from the privilege of taking off house points, as well as giving them. Any foolishness that you witness in your classes and in the hallways, you will send them directly to me."

"Sir-"

"Yes, I think that's fair."

"For how long," was all Snape could utter.

"Hmm, one month, six months, or how about nine months?"

His face went white. "Nine months? Sir, don't you think that's a little long?"

"No. Do you think that it was a little long for Ms. Granger to suffer without any emotional support when she needed it the most? Both Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley were busy with Auror training, and Miss Weasley was still in school, and I'm pretty sure she didn't tell your parents until after your daughter was born."

"How do you know that?"

"Her parents sent me an owl in July, asking me if their daughter had returned to Hogwarts at the end of June, because that' the last time they had saw their daughter in over seven months."

"Oh."

"Yes Severus, oh," he said, handing back his possessions. "It seems you two have a few things to sort out."

"Yeah, that's if I ever get to see them again before school starts in September. My daughter doesn't even know who her father is, she only knows me as 'Professor Snape, the third best wizard in the world'."

"Oh really now? How did she derive to that?"

"Some book."

"I wonder where she got that from?" He said, eyes twinkling.

"No, Albus. I am _not_ going to Diagon Alley to fetch that book for you."

"Thanks for volunteering, m' boy."

"Taking his belongings, Severus left the Headmaster's office with a grunt.

"Thanks for scaring him off, Harry," Hermione hissed.

"Sorry, 'Mione, really, I am," Harry tied apologizing.

"He didn't even go for his wand yet!"

"So, it was going better than expected?"

"It was okay."

"He was concerned about her nose, you know."

"And you just _had_ to irritate him, didn't you?" She said, poking his chest.

"I'm really, really sorry, Hermione. I didn't think you'd be able to tell him so quickly."

"You were gone for awhile. I do appreciate you coming back when her nose was bleeding, even though you do have a wand."

"I panicked. Besides, three young boys came running into the park with their Muggle father close behind them."

"Did they see her broom?"

"I would be more concerned if they saw us apparate."

"You're kidding right?"

"Don't worry, nobody saw anything, I managed to shrink her broom down," Harry said while reaching into his pocket to pull out a broom that was as small as a pretzel stick.

"Thanks, Harry. I don't think she's going to get this back, for awhile."

"Severus," came Dumbledore's voice from his fireplace. "Please come to my office."

Rolling his eyes, Severus stood up and threw his outer robes over his white button-down shirt.

_Great, what else am I in trouble for? Hasn't he already made me suffer enough already today?_

And with that, a very grumpy Severus Snape left for a very pleased Dumbledore.

As Snape knocked on the Headmaster's door, a pleased voice greeted him, "Enter."

As the professor entered, he was met with a very proud looking Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling bright, with a cloudy crystal ball sitting on his desk.

"Ah, Severus, sit down, sit down. Lemon drop?"

"No thank you," Severus said, refusing his second lemon drop of the day.

"I want to show you something."

"A crystal ball, Albus? I've already seen one before."

"Oh really now," he said while raising an eyebrow, receiving two crossed arms.

"I've bet you've never seen one like this before," he said, tapping the top of the ball with his wand.

At the wand's touch, the clouds slowly started deteriorating revealing a young, raven-haired girl, reading a book in front of a working fireplace.

"How did you…" Severus said, speechless.

"I borrowed a crystal ball from Sybil and had her set up the controls and settings on here. Don't worry, she doesn't know a thing," he said with a wink.

"Albus, I-"

"Don't worry about a thing, m' boy," Albus said as he got up and patted him on the shoulder. "This will let you see your daughter at any time of the day."

"_Any_ time?"

He chuckled, "Heavens no."

"Oh good."

"Not any time. The ball will become cloudy or black when she is doing…personal…things. Other words, you'll be able to hear her or see her at anytime."

"Hear her?"

"Yes, you tap the ball twice to turn on and off the 'voice' option, and tap in once to turn the ball on and off. You're welcome to keep this as long as you want, just don't break it. Because if you do break it, Sybil will have my head, and that won't be good."

"Thank you, Albus."

"Now Severus, Minerva is coming in a few minutes to discuss the Hogwart's Express. You're welcome to join us, if you wish."

"No thanks, Albus, I'll take a pass," and with that, he flood back to his quarters, with his new crystal ball in hand.


	7. Thunder and Lightning

**Disclaimer: I (the author) state that I don't own these fantastic characters, and they all belong to J.K. Rowling. I am also not making any money off of this.**

**A/N: Sorry this took a little longer to get out. This chapter, so far, has been the most difficult to write, because I didn't know exactly how to make Severus act, but I think I got it right. Sorry if the writing on this chapter is a little messed up, I'm having computer problems. Well, here's a new chapter, enjoy! And thank you to all who reviewed on the past chapters, I really appreciate it!

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It was the Thursday after he last saw his daughter in person. Now, he was currently sitting in his quarters, fuming about Filch.

Filch had awoken the professor at 2:30 in the morning, because that damn old cat of his had been hacking up fur balls for an hour straight, non-stop. He wanted him to find a potion that would stop her from forever hacking. Snape was going to wring his neck right there, but had decided against it.

It was now 3 A.M. and there the Potion's Master sat, wide awake, with an empty bottle of firewhiskey. When he went to get the fiery-red drink, he had found the bottle already empty, which only added to his sour mood. To calm his mood, he turned on the crystal ball and watched his daughter soundly sleep.

It went on like that for fifteen minutes and surprisingly, he felt much calmer, until he saw a bright flash shine through her window, which made him tense. He immediately took out his wand and tapped the ball twice, hearing a loud "BOOM."

_Just a thunderstorm, thank God. I thought somebody was attacking the house_.

He saw another brilliant flash and then an earsplitting "crack."

He watched as his daughter sat bolt upright and take a look out the window. As another flash was seen and another loud boom, the little girl got up and flew from the room while an earsplitting yell filled the house.

"MUM!" The little girl screamed, running down the stairs and into her mother's bedroom while jumping onto the bed.

"What's the matter Janie?"

"It's thundering outside."

"Oh, come here," she said, hugging her daughter. "It's alright, it's alright. I'm right here."

"Can I stay with you tonight, please?" She asked while giving her mother her puppy-dog eyes.

"Alright, c'mon," Hermione said while lifting up the blankets for her daughter to crawl under.

"Thanks Mum."

"Anytime sweetheart."

Snape rolled his eyes.

"Mum, what's Hogwarts like? I mean, are there storms like there are here?"

"Sometimes; the ceiling in the Great Hall is enchanted to look like the sky outside."

"Does it show thunder and lightning?"

"You see whatever you would see if you were standing and looking up at the sky."

"Can you hear the thunder?"

"Sometimes, but not all the time."

The young girl was quiet for a little while, probably almost near sleeping when Severus felt his eyelids getting heavy. He was just about to turn around to go to bed when he saw a flash that was brighter than all the other ones. He watched as his daughter yanked the blankets over her head and squeaked.

"It's alright Janie, I'm right here," her mother tried reassuring her.

The little girl looked up to her mother and said something that caused a pain in Severus' heart.

"Mummy, I wish daddy was here."

A few moments of silence went by when Hermione sighed,

"Me too, Janie, me too."

"Then why don't you go and get him, if you miss him?"

"I can't at the moment."

"I still want to know where he is."

"Remember honey, that he works at a boarding school, in another country? I can't just go and get him."

"Yes you can, you're a witch. And, I bet he's a wizard, like Uncle Harry and Ron. Do that 'poppy' thingy."

He scowled at the mention of the two dunderheads.

"It's not that simple Janie."

"Well, you can at least try something."

Several minutes were spent in silence as Severus watched the crystal ball intently.

"Mum?"

"Yes?"

"Does dad know I exist?"

What?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"I mean, I've never heard of him before, and the closest person I ever had to a father was Uncle Harry."

_I'm going to kill him_.

"Of course he knows about you, why would you think of something like that?"

"I dunno, it's just that I never got any Christmas presents or anything like that. Every year I get a beautiful charm for my charm bracelet from him, but I never hear anything about him, or get a card."

_WHAT_?

"Honey, it's hard for him to come out here."

"I would just like to know who he is, and even if I have a father, Mum."

Severus had had enough. He turned the crystal ball off and got dressed. Before he really knew what he was doing, he walked out of the school's front doors and down the dark path. His daughter needed her father, and he could not deny her of it any longer.

He walked to the edge of the path, and with a 'pop,' he was gone.

* * *

Hermione was silent since her daughter's last comment, until she heard banging at her door. This time, it was her turn to fly upright.

_Who the hell is knocking at my door so late? If it's Harry or Ron, I'm going to kill them_.

"Mum, who's that?"

"I don't know, stay here," Hermione said, while moving cautiously to the door.

_Does she not realize that it's pouring out here_?

Looking through the key hole, she sighed.

_What the hell is he doing here? Does he not realize that it's past 3:30 in the morning_?

Remembering it was still raining, Hermione swung the door open and ushered the wet professor inside.

"Professor," she said in acknowledgment.

"Ms. Granger."

"What are you doing here?"

"Checking on my daughter."

"At 3:30 in the morning?"

"At anytime she needs me."

"How did you-"

"Hello Professor Snape, what brings you here at this time?"

"Janie!" Hermione scowled, "That's no way to greet him."

"Sorry Professor," she mumbled.

"You don't have to call him professor, at least, not yet."

She raised a questioning eyebrow.

"He works at Hogwarts."

"You do? That's so cool! I'm going there in September!"

She turned to her mother, "If I can't call him 'Professor' yet, what do you want me to call him, Mr. Snape?"

"No, that's not what you call him."

"That's not what I call him? Well, what do you want me to call this 'Snape guy'," she asked, pointing her thumb towards the Professor.

For the first time that night, Janie heard the Professor address her,

"Well Janie," he said, bending his legs so that he was now level with his daughter, "you may call me your father for starters."

The young witch's eyes widened; she quickly looked at her mother who nodded in agreement. Then, Janie looked back to her father, her eyes sparkling.

"Daddy! I've waited for so long!" The young girl said, tears streaming down her face, running towards her father.

The force of his daughter almost knocked Severus over as he was unbalanced to begin with, and she enveloped him in a much-awaited for overdue hug.

"I'm so happy; my wishes were finally granted! Every year on my birthday, I wish that that one day I'll get to meet my dad. Even if it was only for a minute; just so he knew who I was and I knew that he knew."

She pulled away from her father just long enough to look up at her mother.

"Mum, why didn't you tell me that Professor Snape was my father?"

Hermione didn't say anything. She just stood there, with one hand that was fisted resting on her lips and shrugged.

Luckily, Hermione and his daughter weren't looking at the Potion's Master, because they would have seen a silent tear roll down his cheek.

"Wow Mum, this is so cool! My dad is one of the best wizards of _all time_!" Janie exclaimed, jumping into her father's arms. Janie wrapped her arms around her newly-found father's neck and started to cry.

"Ssh Janie. It's alright, I'm here now, don't cry," Severus said while wiping a tear off his daughter's face with his thumb. The young girl in return, yawned and buried her face between her father's shoulder and neck.

"Isn't she getting heavy?" Hermione asked, shocked that her old professor could hold an eleven-year old for so long.

"No, Ms. Granger. When you carry around cauldrons for several years, one builds a strong upper-body."

"I see."

"Well, I'd better be going, it's getting late. I'll come back in the morning; show me where to lay her down."

"You don't have to go back, I can set you up something out here."

"No, it's alright," he said while following Hermione into her bedroom.

As he laid his daughter down on the mattress, her eyes flickered open.

"Dad, where are you going? You just got here!" His daughter inquired with a hint of a whine.

"Don't worry, I'll be back in the morning," he said while kissing the top of her head.

"Why can't you just stay here?" she asked, holding onto her father's sleeve as if her life depended on it.

"I can't," Severus said almost apologetically.

"Mum, can dad stay, please?"

"If he wants."

"Please dad?" She looked up at him, using her puppy dog eyes again that night.

Seeing as he wasn't going to win, Severus gave into his daughter's pleas.

"Alright, but just for tonight," he said as his daughter let go of his sleeve.

"Do you need any help?" Hermione asked, following him out of her bedroom.

"No, I think I can manage."

"Oh, alright then," she replied, turning around to go back into her room.

"Mum, where's dad?"

"He's out in the living room."

"Why?"

"Because that's where he's going to sleep tonight," she replied as a flash shone through the window. Luckily, the storm's intensity had died down; it was finally moving away.

Janie thought about what her mother had said for a few minutes and then jumped out of bed.

"Where are you going?"

"You'll see."

"Janie-"

Janie cautiously made her way into the living room, where her father stood by the entertainment center, viewing the pictures on the top.

"Dad?"

Severus turned around to face his daughter who was currently mesmerized by the crackling fire that was drying her father's wet black robes.

"Yes?"

"I'm scared," she lied.

"About what?"

"The thunder, it's too loud."

"It's not going to hurt you."

"I know, it's just that I don't like it. What are you doing out here?"

"Getting ready for bed."

"Why?"

"Because it's time to go to bed, it's getting pretty late."

"I know _that_. But why are you sleeping out here, alone?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because, it's complicated."

"That's what Mum said about her bringing you here. What is it, don't you two love each other anymore?"

Severus froze. For one of the first times he could remember, he didn't know what to say. Thinking quickly, he knelt and spoke,

"It's complicated, Janie. But of course I care about you and your mother."

"But do you love her?"

"We'll talk about this in the morning, alright?"

"Alright," she said, and then paused. "I have to show you something," she said while taking his hand.

"What?"

"You'll see," she said, leading him into her mother's bedroom.

"Janie, where are you taking me?"

"In here," she said while walking through her mother's doorway.

"Janie-"

"Ssshhh," his daughter said, while putting a finger up to her lips.

Hearing her daughter, Hermione sat up, shocked at the sight before her eyes.

"Janie, what are you doing?"

"Dad's lonely out there."

"Janie-"

"Well, you are, I can tell. Mum's lonely in here, and I'm lonely by myself, not to mention a little scared."

"Janie, the thunder has died down," Hermione informed her daughter, tiredness written in her voice and her features.

"No, I'm not scared of _that_ anymore now that I have you two. I'm scared of loosing my dad again. This way, I won't loose my mum or my dad, we'll be together," she said while tugging Severus down onto the bed.

"You're not sleeping out there, neither of you. We're staying together like a family," the young girl said while talking hold of each parent's hand in each one of hers.

"If either of you two tries to leave," she informed them while raising both of her hands, "I'll know."

Several minutes of silence passed, when both mother and father heard their daughter speak,

"I'm so happy, I finally have my mother and father together. I finally have a family."


	8. Breakfast in Bed

**Disclaimer: The wonderful world of Harry Potter and all of it's characters, belong to the one and only J.K. Rowling. I sadly don't own any of the characters, just the plot of the story. I'm also not making any money off of this so, don't worry.**

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It was 9:30 in the morning when there came a soft knocking at the door. Janie ran to the door and opened it.

"Hi Harry! You have to be very quiet when you come in, my Mum's still sleeping."

"Hermione's _still_ in bed?"

"Yah, we were up pretty late last night."

"What time did you stay up until?" Harry asked, while quietly shutting the door and locking it.

"Well past three-thirty."

Harry was shocked, "Why did you stay up that late, Jaz?"

"Well, there was a thunderstorm and I got scared. Then, we started talking, until someone was at the door."

"Was it Ron?"

"No Harry, it was my dad!"

"What?" Harry asked, not quite believing his ears.

"Yeah! My dad's Professor Snape, isn't that cool?"

"Why did he come over so late," Harry whispered.

"To check on me," Janie said while leading him into the kitchen.

As Harry walked into the kitchen, he cast a silencing charm around the room, so they could talk without having to whisper.

"He came to check on you? Why?"

"Sssshhh, talk softer," Janie hissed.

"It's alright; I cast a silencing charm around the room, she won't be able to hear us."

"You mean they."

"They? You mean, _he's_ still here?"

"Yes, I got him to say last night."

"And your mother said that was alright?"

"Yup, she even asked him at one point."

"She did, did she?"

"Yep, it was so nice; my father came to make sure that I was alright, because of that nasty storm. Did you know that storms were my greatest fear?"

"No, I didn't; it _was_ your greatest fear?"

"It was, now I moved on, because I know I have a mother _and_ a father who will protect me. Now, I fear of loosing my dad again," the once enthusiastic girl said quietly.

"You won't loose him again, I'll make sure of that."

"You will? But...how?"

"Trust me, I will. Professor Snape and I go way back."

"Thanks Harry," the young girl said while hugging him.

"So, where's your mother and Professor Snape?"

"Sleeping."

"I know that, but where? I didn't see Professor Snape when I came in."

"Because you wouldn't have."

Harry really didn't like the way in which the conversation was heading.

"Last night, or rather this morning, my dad was going to sleep out in the living room, so I went out to see as why. Then we started talking, when I asked him if they still loved each other, because I never had heard really anything about my dad before last night."

_Uh-oh, that was the wrong question to ask Snape_.

"And what did he say?"

"He said that he cared for both of us, and that it was complicated to explain to me last night, so he'd tell me later."

_Woah, Snape said _that?

"Then what happened?"

"I shocked them both," Janie said smirking like her father.

"How?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Well, I brought my dad into my Mum's bedroom and pulled him onto the bed, and it was the first time we were really together as a family."

"He stayed? All night?"

"Why are you so shocked," she asked reading his facial features. "They both stayed, I made them."

"You made them," he asked while raising his eyebrow.

"Yup; I held their hands until I fell asleep."

"And they're still in there now," Harry asked, awe written all across his features.

"Where else would they be Harry? Besides, they don't know that I left, because I slipped out around eight. It was so cute! My dad has his arm around me and my mum when I left. When I got up, I covered them and shut the door."

"You did that?"

"Yes. Um, Harry? Can you help me make breakfast for them? I wanted to make them breakfast-in-bed, as a surprise."

"Sure, just let me check on Hermione, just in case she fell off the bed," Harry lied. He was actually more interested in seeing if Janie was telling the truth. There was no way that Professor Snape, of all people, would be in there right now.

Harry silently crept towards the door, and opened it just so he could only see inside. The sight that met his eyes, made him crack a smile: for one thing, his snarky Potion's Master wasn't wearing his usual black attire, but was wearing white. The second thing was that he was sleeping with his arm draped around a pink object. Harry quietly shut the door and walked back into the kitchen.

"They're going to be so happy when they wake up," Janie said, while smiling at the cooking food, when she suddenly became worried. "Uhh, Harry? What if they smell the food?"

"Oh shit!" Harry exclaimed while pulling his wand and running towards the bedroom door, quickly sealing the door with a 'non-stink' smell.

"Thanks Janie."

"Anytime," Janie said, with a look on her face like she was up to something.

"Uh-oh Jaz, what do you have planned?"

"Oooo! You can help me!" She said while she slapped her hands together.

"Help you with what?" Harry asked while flipping over a pancake.

"Help me get my mum and dad back together."

"What makes you want to do that?"

"Because they're not together now."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because! First off, if they were really together, then I would have seen him before. Teachers have holidays _and _summer vacation off! And I know my mum would have talked to him at some point or another."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, and my first part of the plan is working quite well. I purposely slipped out of bed unnoticed, so that they could be together. I also wanted them to talk, and then the perfect opportunity came up...you came over! Now, I thought, I could actually make them breakfast and serve it to them in bed, without getting in trouble for using the oven. So...are you in?"

Harry thought about what the young girl was saying for several moments.

"On one condition."

"Name it."

"We don't mention _any_ of this to Uncle Ron or Ginny, not a single word, understand?"

"Deal," she said while holding out her hand, just before spitting in it.

"What was that for?"

"Spit-shake, you can't break it. Just so you know, you have to spit too."

"Deal," Harry said while spitting in his hand. "Where in the world did you learn that from?"

"Fred and George."

"Figures. Oh, and Janie? It'd be wise not to mention that Professor Snape is your father to Ron or Ginny."

"Why?"

"Oh, Ron and Snape are still on over an old grudge."

"Why," she asked shocked.

"Your father made Ron scrub the _entire_ Potion's Classroom one day for a detention."

"My dad made him do that? Ron must've done something really wrong if he deserved that, because my dad seems nice."

"Well, he wasn't too nice when he found that Ron had organized a game called 'pin-the-nose-on-the-Snape'."

"Why would he do something like that?"

"Because your father took a good amount of points from Ron when he 'accidentally' made his cauldron blow up to turn Draco Malfoy's hair blue."

"Did it work?"

"No, because Professor Snape had gotten in the way."

"Did his hair turn blue?"

"No, silver."

"Wow, I would have liked to see that," she chuckled to herself, trying to see her father with silver hair.

"I bet you would have," Harry said, starting to cook the sausage and bacon.

Fifteen minutes later, everything was just about done. Janie set up two trays and placed them on the table.

"Oh, and Janie?"

"Yes?"

"It would be best if your parents didn't know I was here, until I'm gone, okay?"

"Alright, I'll be back, I'm going to go and wake them up."

"You don't need to come back out, I'll levitate the trays into the bedroom for you, and then I'll leave."

"Thanks Harry, you're awesome," Janie said while hugging her 'uncle'."

* * *

Luckily, when Harry had earlier peeked in on the sleeping adults, he didn't see the compromising situation that Hermione and Severus had found themselves in.

Hermione, the mass of pink on the bed had her head resting on Severus' chest, while his arms were holding her close. Severus' head was resting on the bushel of brown hair and one of his legs was currently lying over Hermione's. But little did the slumbering Potion's Master know, the object in pink had already awoken, an hour previously. Finding herself quite content, Hermione slipped back into a peaceful sleep, wearing a smile across her face. Sadly, the peacefulness of the room was diminished as soon as the slumbering parent's daughter came and jumped on the bed.

* * *

_Aww, they look so cute, it's just to bad that I have to ruin it!_

Janie smirked to herself.

The young girl took a running start and jumped right on top of the large bed.

"Mum...Dad...time to WAKE UP!" She exclaimed jumping between the pair, and then off of the bed.

Due to their daughter's pleasant wake-up call, Hermione and Severus bolted straight upright, as if the world was coming to an end.

"Good! You're _finally _awake!"

"What time is it?" Hermione asked groggily.

"A little after ten."

"WHAT?" The two exclaimed at the same time, suddenly feeling awake.

"Yup."

"What time did you get up," her mother inquired.

"Around eight."

"And you felt it unnecessary to wake us up? We never even heard you," her father said.

"Nope, I'm good at sneaking around."

It was just then that Severus and Hermione had realized how close they were to each other. They immediately went to get out of bed, but their daughter had pushed them down, sending a uncoordinated, sleepy Hermione towards Severus. He quickly moved his legs and her head just missed her lap.

"Young lady," Hermione began, a blush creeping up onto his cheeks.

"That wasn't very nice," chimed in Severus.

"Stay in bed."

"Why," her father asked, his trademark eyebrow going up.

"Because, I made you both breakfast-in-bed."

"You used the oven?"

"Yep."

"You know you're not allowed to use the oven without supervision," Hermione said as two levitated trays made their appearance through the doorway, and over to the two adults.

"Unless she had supervision," Severus added in.

"Janie, who's out there?" Her mother demanded.

"Nobody."

"There is too someone out there, otherwise the trays wouldn't have been levitated over to us, or you wouldn't have used the oven."

"I wished really hard for the trays to move and hey, the trays just floated over to you guys. As for the stove, I take _full _responsibility for using that."

"Nice try," her father said. "Really, who's out there?"

"Nobody, really!" Janie said, managing to keep a straight face.

"Janie, so help me-...if I have to get up and see who's out there-"

"NO MUM!" Janie yelled while running over to where Hermione tried to get out of bed. As Janie arrived, she pushed her mother down for the second time. Severus had to lift both trays in the air as Hermione fell right down into Severus' lap. Blushing like mad, Hermione got up.

Just as Hermione was about to give her daughter the lesson on 'how to never royally piss off your parents,' Janie spoke, "Really, Mum, it was just Harry. Do you honestly think that I would let a stranger into the house?"

"Harry's here?"

"Not anymore; I didn't want to wake you when he came over. You two just looked so cute this morning."

"What do you mean, we 'looked so cute'?" Severus asked.

"Oh nothing."

Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Really, dad, it was just the way that you two were sleeping."

_Wow, dad...I'm gonna have to get used to that._

"What?"

"Yeah, but you two were just sleeping so soundly, I didn't really want to bother you."

"How special."

"It really was," Janie said climbing up onto the bed. "Do you know what I really don't get? I don't get why there's such a thing as pillows, because you two weren't using them, you were using each other as one."

The two adults blushed at the realization that their daughter had caught them. Lucky for Severus, he was able to hide it.

"And I don't see why there's blankets, because you two don't use them either. Hey! Do I have to sleep with blankets on my bed? Sometimes they just get in the way."

"Yes you have to sleep with blankets on your bed, we did."

"Yeah, but they were around your feet. Judging my how close you two were together, I say you didn't need anymore heat."

This time, a blush was evident on both their faces, the Potion's Master couldn't even keep one off his face.

Seeing their cheeks blush, Janie quickly added, "Don't worry though, I promise not to tell anyone."

The rest of breakfast was spent in utter silence, except for Janie, who talked about her summer non-stop, trying to fill her dad in. Severus was never so relieved when Hermione had gotten up to take a shower.

"So Janie," he father asked curiously, "are you excited about Hogwarts?"

"Yes! I'm even more excited now that I can see my father every day. You teach potions, right?"

"Yes, I...teach potions."

_If she's asking if I teach all those previous dunderheads how to blow up their cauldrons, then yes_.

"Awesome, I love potions! Mum lets me help with the ones that aren't too dangerous. She also lets me sit in on some of her lessons, but only if I'm quiet."

Acting totally oblivious, Severus asked, "She teaches potions?"

"Yeah. During the summer, she gives students lessons on potion making and sometimes, she teaches these people called 'Aurors,' how to make certain potions, and how to stabilize them too. She doesn't let me sit in on those though."

_So that's why the bloody Ministry isn't pestering me about Auror lessons, thank God they found somebody else. The only sad thing for me out of this job was that they paid well_.

"Well, it's good that she doesn't let you, some potions are very volatile."

"Oh, I know. She had to brew this potion, I think it was called the _Moonlit Draught_, and she wouldn't let me anywhere near it. She magically locked the door, and she wouldn't even let me by it."

_She knows better than to brew such complicated potions in such a small area. If she wanted a career in potions, then why wouldn't she just take an apprenticeship with me?_

"Did you get within close range of the potion?"

"No; my mom has this knack for always catching me when I'm doing something wrong. I had my hand on the door knob, I even had the door open a crack, when my mom pulled the door shut from behind me."

"Janie, if your mother doesn't want you near the potions, then I don't want you near them either, understand?"

Janie nodded.

"Alright Dad, but you've gotta see this awesome potion she's brewing now! I'm not allowed to touch it, but I'm allowed to watch her. Yesterday, it was shimmering blue, but now, it's a deep red color," Janie said, leading her father to a door that was next to the kitchen.

_Ms. Granger is really pushing it now; a potion's laboratory next to the kitchen?_

It was fairly dark in the room, with a large cauldron and several work benches in the center. Against the right wall were three more workbenches and cauldrons. As Severus' gaze continued across the room, his eyes were glued to a wall that held a wide assortment of ingredients. He was utterly shocked; Ms. Granger did not only have enough ingredients to rival the potion's cupboard at Hogwarts, but she also had ingredients that he couldn't get his hands on, due to their rarity.

When he finally unglued his eyes from the wall of ingredients, he went over to look inside the potion, which made his brow furrow.

_That's the _Love Amor Draught._ What have I told her about brewing these types of potions here? If she messes this one up, she'll have ruined so many ingredients, and about a month's salary from the Ministry._

"Does she let you help with this, at all?"

"No, she said it's too complicated."

"Indeed it is."

"It is?"

"Only professional potion brewers attempt to brew this potion and surprisingly it looks...correct."

Janie's face immediately broke into a smile.

"She said she's brewing it for one of her 'clients,' or whatever that means."

"Interesting."

"Janie," came her mother's voice, "where are you?"

She looked at her father, "Ssshhh, pretend we're not in here."

"Why?"

"Oh, there you two are," she said as she walked through the open door.

Before mother or daughter could say anything, Severus broke the silence,

"Ms. Granger, what did I tell you about brewing complicated potions in an environment like this?"

"Oh hush; where else am I suppose to brew the potions? Besides, it wasn't that complicated."

"It's fairly complicated, and you know that. If you wanted a career in potions, then why didn't you just take an apprenticeship with me?" Severus asked frustrated at the stubborn woman's actions.

Hermione just looked at the Potion's Master like he was speaking a foreign language.

Janie seeing the looks on both their faces, started to back out of the room.

"It's alright Janie," her mother said.  
"We'll talk about this later, Ms. Granger," Severus said.

_Ms. Granger? But he's Professor Snape...I knew it, they're not together, I told Harry that! Well, this just makes my plan more worthwhile_.

Exiting the room, Janie asked, "So, what are we going to do today dad?"

"I was thinking about taking you somewhere."

"Mum, can I go with dad today, instead of Ginny watching me while you go drop off that potion?"

Hermione didn't even think about her answer, because she knew if she did, it would make Severus very angry, and that's the last thing she wanted.

"Sure, if you want to."

Severus raised an eyebrow at her quick response, getting a quick shrug from Hermione.

"Dad, where are we going today?"

"I was thinking somewhere along the lines of Hogwarts."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! Sorry about the length of update time, it took longer than expected. ****Next chapter: Janie sees some of the wonderful world of Hogwarts.**


	9. A Sneak Peak

To Janie's dismay, her father didn't immediately take her to Hogwarts after her mother said yes. Instead, Janie was sent to get ready while her mother and father talked about what time her mother would be done and of course, potions. Then, her father took a shower, because he apparently 'didn't want to make any wrong impressions,' or whatever that meant; they weren't really going anywhere special.

_And they call themselves adults. When I woke up, I took a shower before anything, and then I read a book. Boy, they sure take a long time to get ready; it feels like it's been forever! _(Even though twenty minutes had only passed.)

"Where's Janie?" Severus asked, finally ready to leave.

"She's probably reading," Hermione said, looking over her shoulder.

"Great; she's not even at Hogwarts yet and she's got her nose stuck in a book."

Raising an eyebrow, Hermione fought back.

"And she's brewed potions that only third years would attempt."

"Oh really now?"

Hermione gave him a look out of the corner of her eye before calling for her daughter.

"Is dad _finally _ready?"

"Yes dear."

Janie made her way down the stairs with something hidden behind her back.

"Janie, what do you have?"

"Nothing," she said while pulling her hands out from behind her back, leaving them both fisted.

"Open them."

"Why? I told you that there's nothing there."

Receiving an evil glare from her mother, Janie quickly opened both of her hands, letting a twig-like object fall to the floor. Hermione bent over and picked up her daughter's extremely small broomstick.

"Where did you find this?"

"You mean where I didn't find it; not in my room, that's for sure. It should have been in my room, since it's mine."

Severus sniggered at his daughter's attitude.

"You know why this isn't in your room?"

"Umm…"

"I'll tell you why it's not in your possession. First, you almost broke my one-of-a-kind Gryffindor remembral, then you almost broke your arm, not to mention knocking me and Harry over."

_I would have loved to see Potter get knocked over by my daughter_.

"After that, you snuck it out of the house and very nearly broke your nose. _That's _why you don't have it now, and _that's _why you _won't_ be getting it back for a long time."

"How long?"

"How about until your seventh year?"

"Then I won't fit on it any more."

"Exactly."

_Wow, I didn't think Ms. Granger could talk like that to someone, well except for that incident in her fourth year with Mr. Weasley_.

Giving her mother a nasty glare, Janie marched over to her father and grabbed his hand, practically dragging him out the door.

"Well Mum, dad and I are going out to have fun. Call us when you're ready too."

_Did _my _daughter just say that? Wow, she's more like me that I thought_.

"Janie, are you familiar with apparition," her father asked.

She nodded.

"Alright then, hold on," Severus said as Janie tightly attached herself to her father's legs.

"Good-bye Ms. Granger, we shall see you later today," he said and was gone with a "pop."

---

As Janie reopened her eyes, they were met with the sight of a gigantic castle (which took Janie's breath away).

"Woah," she gasped. "Is _this _Hogwarts; it's huge!"

"Yep, this is Hogwarts," he said turning to look at his daughter. "Would you like an early peak around it?"

"Would I ever! You didn't even have to ask."

"Alright, but before we do, I want you to meet someone, okay?"

"Alright," Janie said as she slipped her hand into her fathers.

Severus smiled.

"Will you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Don't tell anyone I'm your father just yet."

"My lips are sealed."

"Thanks."

"Anytime, Dad."

The rest of the short walk up to the castle was spent by Severus pointing out everything on the grounds. One thing that they didn't know, was that a pair of green feline eyes were closely watching their every move.

"There's a giant squid that lives in that lake?"

"Yes, and sometimes students feed it bread when it's nice outside."

"And that's alright? They don't get in trouble?"

"No one has gotten in trouble yet, except for the Weasley twins. They decided to turn a student into a piece of bread to feed it to the creature, but they manage to miserably fail."

"Wow. Hey, whose house is that," she asked pointing to a hut by the Dark Forest.

"That's Hagrid's hut; I'm sure he'd be glad to meet you, your mother was good friends with him."

"She was?"

"Yes."

_I'm shocked that her mother didn't mention this to her before, or that Potter boy_.

As they reached the large oak doors, Severus pulled and held them open for his daughter to pass through.

_This is Hogwarts? It's fantastic! Much better than how my mum and Uncles Harry and Ron described it_.

Just as they were about to ascend the spiraling stairs, Severus heard a voice that made him stop dead.

"Good morning, Severus. Oh, and who's this?" Minerva asked, suddenly appearing out of thin air.

"Good morning, Minerva. This is Janie; she's a friend of the family."

"I should think so, she sure resembles you quite a bit."

"So I've heard."

"Well Janie, please to meet you," Minerva smiled warmly.

"I must be off, I have to get ready for classes," she said as she turned and walked away, leaving the two to ascend the now stopped stairs.

"This person must really be important to have his office way up here."

"He is," Severus said as he walked to the door and knocked.

"Enter," came a voice from behind the door.

Severus pulled the door open and entered with Janie tailing close behind.

"Ah, Severus m' boy, what brings you here on such a beautiful day? Oh, I see you've brought someone for me to meet," he said, his eyes twinkling like mad.

"Yes Albus," Severus said as he turned around just enough to see his daughter. "Come here Janie," Severus said offering his daughter his hand.

"Albus, this is my daughter, Janie. Janie, this is Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster here at Hogwarts."

Janie let both of her hands fall to her side in shock.

"Hello Sir, it's a pleasure to meet you," Janie said, her brilliant black eyes glowing.

"Hello Janie, it's a pleasure to be able to finally meet you; it's not every day that one of the members of the staff has a child! You know Severus, she does look so much like you, especially her eyes."

"Thank you."

Janie turned to her father, "You know him?"

"Is there a problem?" Dumbledore asked.

"No Sir, it's just that you're the number one wizard in the whole world! I just can't believe that my father knows you!"

"You know, your mother I'm sure knows me too. So, I take it that you're coming to Hogwarts this year?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Janie, would you please come around my desk?"

Janie complied while Albus opened his drawer and took out a small brown package.

Snape watched as Albus handed his daughter the small package and then whisper something in her ear. Janie nodded as Dumbledore patted her shoulder and she returned to her father's side.

"You should be proud, Severus. I still can't tell you how shockingly you two are similar. So Severus, when are you going to tell the rest of the staff?"

_The _rest _of the staff? You've got to be kidding me_.

"Do they have to know right away?"

"No, but you never know what might slip."

"Really Albus, all you have to do is tell Minerva and it'd be around the school before the end of the week."

"So, are you giving me permission to tell her?"

"No, I'll tell her."

"Splendid m' boy. Everybody will certainly be pleased to know that our very own Potion's Master has a child that will soon be attending Hogwarts."

_Oh joy_.

"What do you want me to do, bring her to the staff meeting tomorrow morning," he said sarcastically.

"Why, what a splendid idea! Are you sure Ms. Granger would allow it?"

"I was merely joking, Albus."

"I'm sure the staff will be most pleased to know that you have a child. Besides Severus, you'd better tell them before the students come. You don't want any rumors circulating around the student body now, do you?"

"Well no."

"And Severus, you're like a son to some of the members to the staff here. I don't think it would be fair if they found out if it didn't come directly from you."

"Fine; if you really want me to go, then I'll go."

"Oh no, my dear boy, you have to go. Janie's the one who doesn't."

"We'll both be there tomorrow, Albus."

_Now I know if I want something from my dad, I'll just guilt him into it, just like Professor Dumbledore did_.

"Albus, do you mind if we tour the castle for a little bit?"

"I don't find a problem there, except please try to avoid Arugus, he's a little...moody this morning."

"Thanks, Albus. C'mon Janie," Severus said as put his arm behind his daughter's shoulders and guided her out the door.

Descending the stairs, Janie called out from behind her father.

"Hey dad, look at this!" Janie said as she was trying to climb up the descending stairs; Severus smiled.

"Janie, please do try to be careful-" Severus was cut off as his daughter missed a step; Severus hadn't moved so fast in his entire life.

As he saw his daughter starting to go down, he practically jumped up three stairs and caught his daughter by her arms and gently lifted her up.

"Thanks," Janie said, slightly blushing.

_Great, what will the rest of the staff say if she's a trouble- maker? I've only been around her for about two days, and she's already showing the early sign_._ Minerva would have a bloody field day if Janie turned out to be a trouble-maker_.

"Please try to be more careful; I really don't want to explain to your mother how you almost broke your arm."

"Alright Dad," she said as the gargoyle swung open.

Just as Severus and Janie were about to turn a corner, a voice came around the corner, making Severus stop dead in his tracks, again.

"Severus!"

_Damn, not again_.

Severus spun around.

"Yes, Minerva?"

"Don't go down there."

"May I ask as to why?"

"Arugus is down there."

"And what is he on about today? Is his wretched cat hacking up hair balls again?"

"No. Peeves has decided to take all the ink bottles from the library and coat the whole hall with their contents."

"I see."

"If I were you, that particular part of the castle should not be accessed for at _least_ a couple of days."

"It's that bad?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. Why were you going down there for anyways? You usually don't venture down the corridors until school starts."

"I was going to show Janie the library," he said while motioning to the girl hidden behind him.

"Janie, this is Professor McGonagall. She's going to be your Transfiguration teacher here during your duration at Hogwarts."

"Nice to meet you, Professor McGonagall," Janie said smiling.

"Wow Severus, she has nice manners; she was taught well. Please give my gratitude to the person who taught her, you don't get many young students with good manners anymore."

_Well, it's now or never_.

"Minerva, you could thank her yourself."

Severus sighed and continued on.

"Ms. Granger is Janie's mother."

Her eyes lit up.

"Really now? Ms . Granger had a child? Why wasn't I informed?"

_How could she not mention this to me? And how does Severus know and I don't? I usually have ways of finding out before him_.

McGonagall looked from Severus to his daughter, and then back up to him, eyes lighting up even more.

"I haven't the slightest clue, but anyways…Minerva, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Janie."

Minerva's eyes were now bright enough to light up the entire Quidditch field.

"Severus, why didn't you tell me before," she inquired, enveloping the Potion's Master in an unanticipated hug.

"It's about time that you've finally had a child!"

Janie was watching in amusement as the old woman was suffocating her now pink father.

"I only wish that you would have told me sooner! You know, she looks uncannily like you. You say that Hermione _Granger _is her mother?"

He nodded.

"Interesting, very interesting indeed. Did you realize that with you as her father and _Ms_. Granger as her mother, she will be a child prodigy?" She said with an unhidden glee.

"Have you told Albus yet?"

"Yes."

"Splendid! Did you tell anyone else yet?"

"No, I plan to tell the rest of the staff during tomorrow's staff meeting. And I'd appreciate it if you don't tell anybody about this."

"Yes, of course; I'll try too. No one will believe that our own Potion's Master has a child! Everyone will be so happy!"

"Yes, I bet they'll all be overjoyed to hear. Now, please excuse us while I show my daughter around the castle."

"Why yes, of course. You know Severus, if you, Ms. Granger, or even Janie needs anything, you can just ask."

Minerva turned and bent down so she was level with Janie and brought her into a friendly embrace.

"It is so nice to meet you, Janie. And don't forget: if your father gets on your nerves, or you get sick of him, I'll be here."

Severus rolled his eyes.

Minerva got up and watched the two disappear down the hallway.

"Wow, Severus Snape, a father. He'll make such a great father, I just know it. One can't help but wonder who those two ended up with a child," Minerva said to no one in particular.

---

"Albus, I still can't believe that Severus has a daughter," Minerva said to her colleague.

"I know, it will definitely take some time to get used too."

"He'll make such a good father."

"But can he be one?"

"What do you mean, Albus?"

"Janie is going to start Hogwarts in a couple of weeks, and Severus had only just found. There's no doubt that they'll be able to spend more time together, but it took Ms. Granger eleven years just to tell him that he did, in fact have a daughter."

"Janie's eleven years old? But Ms. Granger was a student eleven years ago…oh, I see."

"Yes, the war was raging and people didn't trust each other like they used to."

"I wonder how Severus is taking the news on the inside."

"He actually took it pretty well."

"You knew?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"The problem is not how Severus will take the news about finding out, it's how he's going to take to his daughter being shuffled around between them both."

"What do you mean? Surely you they won't do that."

"Janie's a bright girl; she has two extremely intelligent people for parents. I doubt she hasn't already figured out where they both stand. Even though both her parents may be very intellectual, they are both shockingly stubborn. There's no doubt that they'll do what's right, but it won't be in time.

"Due to their stubbornness, you know that they'll get into arguments, knowing how Hermione pushes things and Severus' short temper. It's unhealthy for a girl this young to be caught in the middle. It's also unhealthy for the whole castle if we have a cranky Potion's Master during the first month of school."

"Then what are you proposing we do?"

"That we prevent any problems from starting. We can do this by getting Severus and Ms. Granger together, without the presence of their daughter all the time. The last thing we need is Janie to get any wrong ideas."

"Then what?"

"Then we eventually wean them together, without them knowing."

"Are you mad? They're bound to notice."

"No, I don't think that they will notice. In fact, I want to put the first part into action today. Minerva, would you be as kind as to call your owl? Mine's not as quick as yours in delivering messages."


	10. Hogsmeade

An hour and a half later, Janie and her father were walking down the steps into the school's dungeon.

"Dad, you told me about Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw; there are four houses, aren't there?"

"Yes."

"Then what about the fourth? Isn't that Slytherin?"

"Yes."

"Ooooo, that name sounds cool! Where's it located? Who's the Head of House? What are the colors-"

_Oh no, _Severus thought, _she's already started to question everything like her mother always does_.

"Slytherin is located down here, in the dungeons, and the Professor, that is the Head of Slytherin, is me."

"That's so cool! My dad, Head of Slytherin. Hey, that has a kind of ring to it."

Severus smiled, "Yes, I suppose it does."

The two toured the dungeons for a little bit, until they ran head on into Filch.

_Shit! What's he _doing _down here? Isn't he supposed to be cleaning up the poltergeist's mess?_

"Good afternoon, Professor," Filch said bitterly, ignoring the small girl hiding behind her father's black robes.

"What are you doing down here? It's under my understanding that Peeves has made a...mess upstairs?"

"Well, Professor, I came down here to get some ink-eater potions to clean up that damn mess that that son of a-"

"I get the point," Severus said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And then I heard this irritating scratching coming from _your _office, Professor."

"Scratching?"

"Yes. It sounds like a critter is trying to come through your window."

Sighing, Severus turned around and directed Janie to his office. As he opened the door, he found a bird angrily pecking at the window.

Reaching the window, the bird stopped its noisy pecking and Severus flung the window open. The bird flew in and landed gracefully onto the Potion's Master's desk and dropped a small envelope on it.

Noticing that his daughter had become suddenly quiet, and was looking everywhere but at the bird, Severus spoke to her, as he picked up the parchment envelope.

"What's the matter Janie? Do you know this bird?"

She nodded, "That's Tailion, my Mum's falcon."

Severus quickly opened the envelope and sighed; in it were two small pieces of parchment. He raised the first piece of parchment and read it:

_Severus,_

_Ms. Granger will meet you at 5:30 P.M., at the apparition point outside of Hogwarts. _I _have asked _her_ to run an errand for me, so I suggested that she meet up with you and your daughter. Have a pleasant day!_

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Severus muttered something under his breath about Albus' last statement and then read the next piece of parchment.

_Professor Snape and Janie,_

_Please let Janie know that when she comes back, she can have her broomstick back_._ I was going to send it, but I didn't think that you would approve of her on it. I figured that if she was going to risk getting into trouble by bringing it, then she must have really wanted to show you something. Have a nice day, and please, enjoy yourselves._

_-Hermione Granger_

"What did she say?"

"That you can have your broomstick back when you get home."

"What? She _never _lets me have _anything_ back when she takes it away from me; or at least, for a while."

"She doesn't?"

"Nope, and she'll even hold it longer if I don't behave myself in the meantime. Great! Now I feel guilty about what I said to her. And that doesn't happen all _that _often," Janie muttered under her breath.

"You can't take back what you said."

"I know." Janie was quite for a few moments. Then she added, "What else did she say?"

"That she'll meet us at 5:30; this evening."

"Good, we still have lots of time left. I don't know why she has to come today, though. What else do you want to do," she asked looking up at her father, eyes shining.

"I was thinking about going into Hogsmeade."

"Hogsmeade? Isn't that a town full of shops?"

"It's similar to Diagon Alley."

"Awesome! Diagon Alley was one of the coolest places I've been to so far."

"I bet it was," he said as he opened the door and let his daughter through, before he shut and locked it.

---

An hour after they had left, Janie and Severus emerged from the Three Broomsticks, after having lunch. Most of the time, was spent by Janie filling her father in on her childhood. It seemed to Severus that Potter and Weasley were mentioned one too many times, along with the terrible Weasley twins (even though she had only mentioned them twice). Along with knowledge of some of the things that her "uncles" told her, he also learned that she played the Muggle sport, soccer, in her Muggle school.

When Severus had finally realized that his daughter had walked off, he frantically turned around only to find Janie with her nose pressed against the glass window of Honeydukes.

"Dad, can we go in here, please? Mum won't let me have a lot of sweets, because my grandparents are dentists."

"Sure."

"Yes!" Janie exclaimed as she ran through the door.

Twenty minutes later, Severus' pockets were weighed down with many shrunken candy bags, and he was about twelve galleons short (which is a lot for just candy).

When his daughter went into the shop, he just couldn't refuse on her first-time Wizard candy shopping spree. It made him feel that Potter and Weasley hadn't taken everything completely away from him. He did refuse, however, to buy anything that would piss off Filch, because nobody would want that.

After Honeydukes, Janie dragged her father into Zonko's Joke Shop, which was the _only _joke shop in the Wizarding World that was not yet bought out by the terrible twins.

Severus knew he shouldn't buy his daughter anything from the shop, considering he was a professor, but he wanted her to be happy (hey, even _he _played Exploding Snap while he was in his first and second years).

Before going into the shop, Severus stopped his daughter.

"We have to be careful with what we buy, because Hogwarts doesn't allow half of these novelties."

Janie nodded and ran into the shop, nearly knocking over her father on the way in.

As Snape walked into the shop, he looked for his daughter among the many isles, when she suddenly appeared out of nowhere with a Fanged Frisbee in her hands.

"Can I have one of these," she asked while holding it up for him to see.

"You're going have to pass on that, it's one of the many that's banned from Hogwarts."

"Okay," she said, walking back into the many isles of jokes.

It wasn't even five minutes when Janie came back, her arms loaded with pranks.

---

After saying no to about a half-dozen items, and yes to almost a dozen more, they finally left the shop.

"Janie, do you need any clothes?"

"No, I think I'm pretty much set."

_Thank God_. _I don't know if I could handle an hour of holding clothes while she went and tried them all on_. _Besides, I'll bet I'll get my fair share of that in a couple of years_.

"Know what I do need?"

"What?"

"I need to go to that store, right there," she said, pointing to a book and quill store.

_Oh good, I need to purchase several bottles of red ink; I've found my supplies rather low_.

As they entered the store, Janie immediately went over to where all the quills were on display.

"Woah, look at this one here; it's beautiful. Look, it says it's made up of eagle feathers, and the tip was made by Goblins!"

Severus walked over to the quill that his daughter was currently gaping at.

"It is nice; I suppose you want it?"

"You don't have to do that," she said while looking into her father's eyes.

"Yes, I do."

"Dad-"

"Think of it as a late Christmas present."

"But it's too expensive."

"That doesn't matter; just make sure that you don't loose it. Besides, when we buy it, I'll have them charm it only for your use."

"You'd do that for me?"

"Of course."

"Dad, you're the best!" Janie said while almost knocking him over with a hug.

"Would you like ink to go with that?" Her father asked her curiously.

Janie just looked up at her father with wide, twinkling eyes, and a smiled graced her face.

---

They left the shop quite some time later with several new purchases. As Janie put it, it was like 'Christmas came early!' She was now the proud owner of five different colors of ink, an eagle quill, and both were now carrying various new books.

"Where can we go next?"

Severus checked his wristwatch, (they didn't only prove useful to Muggles).

"Back to Hogwarts."

"What? It's time _already_?"

"Its 5:15 and your mother is meeting us in fifteen minutes outside of Hogwarts."

"Darn."

As the two started to walk up the winding path, Severus suddenly remembered the package that Albus gave his daughter.

"Janie, what did Professor Dumbledore give you?"

"I don't know; I didn't open it yet. He told me to open it later, though," Janie said as she pulled out the small package.

Severus watched as she carefully tore off the packaging and stuffed it into her pocket, revealing a piece of parchment wrapped around something silver.

Janie quickly read the parchment and put it into her other pocket, holding up a silver necklace. Severus took the necklace and closely examined it. The necklace itself was a silver chain with the initials "J.S.," which looked like two snakes. The letters, upon closer inspection had a very fine detail to them, all the way down to the eyes. There were sparkling green gems as the snake's eyes, and a beautiful red ruby that was set in between the two letters.

"Isn't the gem in the middle beautiful? It says in the letter that Professor Dumbledore gave me, that it's made from a melted phoenix feather."

_Melting a phoenix feather is _very _hard to do, even _with_ the help of magic. And when it _is _melted, it can be sold for a hefty profit. The most spectacular thing about phoenix feathers is that it will protect the wearer from any minor jinxes, and the stone will turn color when the wearer's mood is greatly affected_.

"Take good care of this, Janie; it's really valuable."

"Don't worry, I will," Janie said as her father gave the necklace back to her.

"Can you please put it on for me?" Janie asked, holding up the necklace for her father to take.

Snape nodded and took the necklace while carefully hooking the latch around her neck.

When he looked back up, he saw a figure standing in the near distance. As they neared Hermione, Severus was sure that Janie would go running up to her mother and tell her everything that had happened, but to his shock, she remained next to his side, keeping up with his long strides.

"Have fun?"

"YES! It was awesome; Dad and I walked all throughout Hogwarts, and then he took me to Hogsmeade! We got so many cool things; I can't even name them all! And then Dad got me this _gorgeous _eagle quill!"

"Wow, sounds like you two had a lot of fun!"

"We sure did!"

When Hermione looked towards Severus, he flashed a feeble smile in her direction.

_Good gods, did Professor Snape just smile?_

"Ms. Granger, would it be alright if Janie went with me to the staff meeting tomorrow morning?"

"Sure. You know Professor, she's your daughter too; you don't have to ask on every little thing."

Severus gave her a glare.

_So much for the smile_.

"I'm well aware of that, Ms. Granger. I was merely making sure if it was alright for the staff to know."

Hermione was quiet for a few moments, before finally saying, "I suppose so."

"Good," Severus said, while reaching into his pocket to pull out a handful of mini shopping bags."

"You bought that much?"

"There's more."

"Put it back in your pocket."

"Excuse me?"

"You can come over and empty your pockets. I think that'll be easier on the both of us."

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Dad's coming over?" Janie asked hopefully.

"Yes."

"But just for a little while," Severus added in.

"Professor, why doesn't Janie just stay with you?"

"What?"

"I mean, she's going with you to the staff meeting tomorrow _morning_, right?" Hermione said as she sharply took in a breath.

"Ms. Granger, what's wrong?" Severus asked, while charming all the bags in his pockets to levitate to his quarters.

"Nothing," Hermione said as she let out a painful sigh and quickly grabbed her side.

"Ms. Granger?"

When she didn't respond, Severus moved towards her and asked again. In return, Hermione shook her head, clutching her side even more.

"Mum, are you alright?"

Hermione tried nodding.

As Severus saw the pained expression flash across her face, he grabbed her arm and gently pulled it away; he gasped.

"Ms. Granger, where did you get this?" He asked dangerously.

"I don't know."

"Someone doesn't get something like this, without their knowledge."

"What; get what?" Janie asked curiously, causing Severus to move closer to Hermione.

"Nothing. Janie, why don't you go down by the lake?"

Raising an eyebrow, Janie obeyed her father and walked towards Hogwarts.

"Ms. Granger, I need to see the source of all the blood."

She shook her head again.

"If I can't see it, I can't help you."

She made an attempt to pull the corner of her shirt up, but then stopped.

"Ms. Granger, I need to see it; your hands are covered in blood, and its bleeding right through your shirt."

Hermione nodded, but didn't move.

Taking the queue, Severus lifted the corner of her shirt up and gasped for the second time that day.

Hermione had a deep gash that was approximately six inches long on the far right side of her stomach.

"How did you get this?" He asked softly.

"I. Don't. Know."

"You sure?"

"Yes!" Hermione yelled, causing her to yelp and once again, covered her side.

Severus took out his wand and told her politely to let go of her side, or he would do it for her; Hermione reluctantly agreed.

He tried casting numerous healing charms over the gash, but all were unsuccessful.

"Dammit, it's resisting magic. Ms. Granger, was this caused by a magical object?"

She shook her head, "It was a potion."

"Ms. Granger, we need to get you some medical attention, immediately." Severus said and turned around.

"JANIE," he bellowed out towards Hogwarts.

Janie looked up and started running towards her parents. She had never heard her father yell like he did, even though she had only really known him for two days.

"Janie, do you remember where the Hospital Wing was?"

She quickly nodded.

"Go in and tell Madam Pompfrey that I'm bringing Ms. Granger in," Severus told her, sending the young girl running back up towards the castle.

When Severus turned towards Hermione, he found that she was holding a hand over her mouth, while the other hand was still gripping her side.

"Are you going to be sick?"

She shook her head.

"Then, what are you doing?"

Hermione's eyes grew wide as she shook her head again.

"Then why are you covering your mouth?"

Hermione seemed to gag for a second, and then stopped, all while trying to shake her head. Severus watched as her eyes started flickering. He looked towards her hand over her mouth once more, and was utterly shocked at what he saw; there was now blood seeping through her clenched fingers.

He started to move towards her, when she began to sway on her feet and staggered backwards.

Severus reached out and grabbed her, preventing her from falling over. He quickly took off his outer robe and wrapped it around her body, to prevent any blood from dripping onto her clothing. Then in a swift movement, he picked up Hermione, while keeping her head up, and started to move towards the castle.

**A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed and read the story! I'm stuck with a small problem, and if anybody could help me by voicing their opinion, it would be greatly appreciated. I was wondering if I should send Janie to Hogwarts with her mother's last name, or her father's. I'm not sure what to do, because it could be played either way. Another big question: I'm already set on a house to put her in, but I would like to ask you were everybody thinks she should belong in, to see if I'm making the right choice. Thanks!**


	11. The Hospital Wing

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own any of these awesome characters, the fabulous J.K. Rowling owns them all. And I'm not making any money off of this. **

**A/N: I feel just awful for not updating in such a long time (it seems like a long time). I finally have a three-day weekend and have time to update and actually go online. So anyways, here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy! (It would have been up sooner, but since I couldn't update online, I made it a little longer.)**

**---**

Janie whipped open the doors to Hogwarts and bolted down the hallway, as fast as her legs would carry her. As she sped down the hallway, she didn't realize that she had almost knocked down the Transfiguration teacher in her rush.

"Janie, what's wrong?"

"There's something wrong with my Mum."

"Your mother's here?" She asked, but it was unheard, because Janie was already around the corner.

As she entered the Hospital Wing, she saw no one, so she ran to the nearest door and started banging on it, until an old witch opened the door.

"Madam Pomfrey?"

"Yes?"

"I need your help. Professor Snape is told me to tell you that he's coming up here with my Mum; there's something wrong."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't really know…but I think that she's bleeding…badly."

"Who's your mother dear?"

"Hermione Granger."

The old witch stopped dead.

"Your mother is Ms. Granger?"

"Yes, and there's something wrong; she's never really sick."

After hearing the young girl's confirmation, whom Poppy thought looked "all too familiar," she quickly prepared the last bed in the wing, and went rummaging through her potion cabinets.

---

Severus was almost up to the castle steps when Hermione's eyes started to close again. It was becoming harder and harder for Severus to keep her awake.

"Ms. Granger, you have to stay awake," he said calmly, keeping his eyes locked on the school's doors.

Hermione's eyelids opened slowly and looked up at Severus. Almost as soon as they opened, they were closed again.

"Please Ms. Granger, you need to stay awake," he said, with almost a hint of a plea in the first three words.

Hermione's eyes opened half-way and looked right into Severus' eyes; he stopped. Her eyes flashed once over with pain, and then became completely trusting.

"No," Severus said quickly. "Ms. Granger," he stopped, for she closed her eyes again.

"Ms. Granger," Severus said, gently shaking her in his arms; no reply.

"You're going to slip into unconsciousness if you fall asleep," he said, but he knew that she was already there.

"Hermione, what am I going to do with you?" He asked to her life-less body, as he quickened his strides towards the castle.

Just as Severus reached the great oak doors of Hogwarts, they burst open, revealing a very flustered-looking Minerva McGonagall.

"Severus, what happened?"

"I don't know; she's spitting up blood, and she has somehow acquired a serious wound on her right side."

"Is she going to be alright?" Minerva asked, now panting, for having to run to keep up with the Potion Master's quick, long strides.

"I don't know; her condition is resisting magic."

"It's what?" Minerva asked, shell-shocked.

"You heard me, Minerva. I can't stop the bleeding, and I'm not sure if a potion will either."

"Then what will we do," she asked, as they sharply turned a corner.

"If all comes down to the worst, we'll have to take her to a Muggle hospital, to seal the wound."

"You can't be serious, Severus."

"Yes Minerva, I very much am. Due to the loss of blood, Ms. Granger has fallen into a state of unconsciousness. I'm applying pressure to the wound now, but she's had a steady flow of blood coming out of the corner of her mouth."

Minerva tried to look at Hermione, but couldn't see, due to Severus' height, so he lowered her down ever so slightly, only to bring her head straight back up to his shoulder.

"What is it Severus?"

"Filch," he said as he started to briskly walk down the hall, Hermione now held closer than ever to his chest.

Luckily, they were able to make it to the Hospital Wing, without Filch seeing them. As they entered the wing, a loud shriek was heard from down the wing.

"Severus! What happened?" The Mediwitch asked as she flew down the wing. "Quick, bring her back here," she said as she ran back down the hall.

"Minerva, why don't you take Janie out," Poppy said as Severus laid Hermione down on the bed.

"Is she going to be alright?" A very curious voice asked from the shadows.

"Yes; Janie, why don't you come with me," Minerva asked, holding out her hand, at which Janie reluctantly took.

"Do we have to go?"

"Yes, I want to show you something, Janie. Besides, your father will make sure that she gets better."

Poppy looked at Minerva in awe, then at Severus. Her gaze shifted and finally settled on Janie. She opened her mouth to speak, but Severus cut her off.

"Not now, Poppy."

Knowing better, Poppy nodded and started to unravel the cloak from around Hermione.

"Severus, I hope you don't want this back, it's full of blood," she said as moved to her hazmat bin and chucked it inside.

"No."

"Her shirt's full of it too."

"Just on her right side, Poppy."

"Where's it all coming from?" Poppy asked and slightly lifted her shirt up to take a look at the wound, and gasped.

"Magic will not help in sealing it, I already tried."

Hearing this, Poppy summoned a cart on the other side of the room. As it stopped next to her, she grabbed several packages and ripped them open, rushing to Hermione's side.

"Severus, hold her shirt up for me."

Severus complied, and watched as Madam Pomfrey put numerous gauze pads over the wound. To complete the mound of gauze, she put another mound of tape to keep it on.

"You didn't need _all_ that tape."

"Do you want her to bleed out?"

"No."

"Good, then don't question me. Do you know what caused this?"

"She said a potion had."

At hearing this, Poppy whipped out her wand and started performing numerous spells, up and down her body.

"Oh, this is not good, not good at all," she said as her wand hesitated over the witch's stomach and shined a dark yellow; Poppy looked up at Severus.

"The potion is eating away at her stomach's lining and that wound is extremely close to some of her internal organs. The potion is slowly making its way up her esophagus, hence the reason for all the blood. What I would like to know, is how she came up upon such a potion, never-less how she came to consuming it."

Severus stopped all motion, and his breathing faltered.

"The _Estómago Sangriento Potion_," Severus said quietly.

"Poppy, we need to stop this potion quickly; it will not stop, until there's nothing left to feed off of. Charms _will not _stop it."

Poppy thought for a few moments, then turned to Severus. "Freeze it."

"What?"

"Freeze her stomach, which will freeze the potion. You said that charms won't work to rid the potion, but what if we don't try to rid the potion?"

"I don't know. What about her gash?"

"It won't heal with the aid of magic, most likely due to the fact that the potion is it in."

Severus was about to add in another question, but stopped, when Poppy waved her wand, and Hermione's stomach turned indigo.

"It worked?"

"I told you it would. Now, stop questioning my methods."

Poppy turned and entered her office, receiving a glare from Severus. Several minutes later, she returned, holding a clear vial.

"Took you long enough," Severus said, earning a glare from the Mediwitch.

"Well sorry, Severus. I went to retrieve a potion that will help Ms. Granger out, if that's okay with you."

"How will a potion help her out? I'm at a lost to any that will help dissolve this potion."

"For once, Severus, you _don't_ know about every potion, because you don't know about this one. You see, this is my own concoction; it eats up _everything _in your digestive tract, without _causing _any harm to any organs. After her digestive tract is empty, I'll give her a cooling potion, which will help ease any burning she might feel. With any luck, both of the potions will somehow find their way into her wound, like the other potion had. After everything is administered, I'll unfreeze her stomach and give her a Dreamless sleep potion."

"Poppy, how will her stomach heal itself, if there isn't any food for her body to work off of?"

Poppy stopped, "I didn't think of that; I can't give her any nourishment potions until I know her stomach can hold them."

"May I suggest we do something the…Muggle way?"

Poppy looked like someone stripped her of her Mediwitch's license.

"It's the only way we can help her."

"What are you proposing we do then?"

"Have Minerva transfigure something into an I.V. machine. And you might want to read up on stitches, just in case."

"Stitches?"

"The Muggle way of closing wounds."

"But the potion will be gone."

"It might not matter; it could still resist magic."

"Severus, how do you know so much about Muggle medicines?"

"Albus made me take a Healer's course, before taking the position at Hogwarts. While taking the course, I had to sit in on a Muggle hospital."

"I never knew that. What-"

"No time for the twenty questions about my life and knowledge, Ms. Granger needs our help."

---

It took Poppy and Severus nearly two hours, before they could call Minerva to conjure up an I.V. machine, much to Poppy's dismay.

It had taken Poppy and Severus a good hour and a half to completely clear out her system and to administer all the other necessary potions that, until then, didn't know she needed.

It had also turned out that the wound was _still_ resisting magic, leaving Severus to stitch the gash shut. Poppy had never heard of stitches, never-less seen how they were used. She watched in amazement as Severus skillfully stitched her skin shut.

Just as she did before, Poppy went overboard at bandaging the now closed wound. Instead of putting gauze just around it, she wrapped the white stuff all around her lower stomach. Severus was amused at this.

"Why the hell are you wasting all that gauze? She doesn't need it all."

"Yes she does; what if a stitch pops out? You'll have to do it all over again."

Severus rolled his eyes just as the Transfiguration Professor walked into the room.

"What happened to Ms. Granger?" She asked sternly. "I've waited long enough."

"Minerva, where's Janie?" Severus asked, getting up from his position next to her bedside.

"She's with Albus. I left her while she was playing with Fawkes. Now, what do you want me to do?"

Poppy went over and started to talk to Minerva about I.V. machines, only to find out, that she knew about them too. After everything was said between the two, Minerva turned to Severus.

"Severus, why don't you retrieve your daughter from Albus? I'm sure she's dying to know what has happened to the both of you; she was worried that something was really wrong, by the way you yelled for her earlier."

Severus stole a quick glance at Hermione.

"She'll be fine Severus really; we're right here."

He glanced at the two women and then back at Hermione.

"Alright," he said and made his way for the door.

---

"Enter."

Severus opened the door and shut it quietly behind him. Janie looked up from Fawkes, and in a flash, she was enveloping her father in a hug.

"You're alright! Is Mum okay?" She asked, tears of joy streaming down her face.

"She's going to be fine."

"Good. Dad, you had me so worried; you and Mum. I was really scared that something had happened to the both of you, I was ushered out of the room so quickly…," she said, clinging onto her father as if her very life depended on it.

Albus watched the two with interest, as Severus returned his daughter's hug.

"We're fine, Janie. In fact, I was just coming to see if you wanted to go and see your mother."

"I can?"

"Of course you can," Snape said, turning to Albus.

"Thank you Albus, for watching Janie for us."

"Any time, m' boy," Albus said, shocked that Snape had used the word "us," instead of "me."

As they approached the Hospital Wing, Severus stopped his daughter.

"Janie, when you go in there I don't want you to be shocked."

She raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"She's sleeping."

"Oh. Well, we can wake her up then, can't we?"

"No, she's been given a potion that will help her sleep."

"She'll be alright though, right?"

"Yes."

As Janie walked into the Hospital Wing, she ran to her mother's bed, and went to hug her, but was stopped by a pair of hands that grabbed her shoulders.

"What?" Janie asked as she stopped and spun around to face a concerned-looking McGonagall. "What happened? She was fine yesterday. Why is she hooked up to an I.V. machine, I thought this world was full of magic."

"You know about I.V. machines?"

Janie raised her eyebrow, "I was in a soccer accident a couple months ago."

"Don't worry dear, your mother's going to be alright," Poppy said, trying to hide the embarrassment of being the only one in the room who had no idea what an I.V. machine was (and she was the school's Mediwitch).

"What's wrong with Mum, Dad?"

"It's a little complicated to understand, at the moment."

Janie did not appear to like this statement.

"Why does everything have to be so complicated? Everything's complicated!"

Severus and company watched as the young girl started pacing back and forth, her arms flying above her head as she spoke.

"It's either, 'it's not that simple,' or 'it's just too complicated.' You and Mum are just 'too complicated to understand.' Letting me see you before I saw you, was 'not that simple'."

"Janie-" Severus tried reaching out for her, but was immediately cut off.

Janie stopped and looked at them all, her pendant now glowing a violent shade of violet.

"And I'm sick of everything being so bloody complicated! You're all witches and wizards, are you not? DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!"

And with that statement said, Janie raced out of the Hospital Wing and down the halls of Hogwarts, Severus following close behind her.

---

Severus was following Janie up the staircase, until she ran out onto one of the floors, and down one of the longer hallways.

Stopping to catch her breath for a moment, Janie heard footsteps and bolted down the hallway. She heard them coming nearer and nearer, so she ran even faster, until a door seemed to pop out of nowhere. Janie flung the door open and slammed it when she was safely inside. She put her ear up to the door to hear if her pursuer had stopped, but she couldn't hear anything above her heavy breathing. As she turned around to see what room she had stumbled upon, she froze.

The room was pitch black, except for the millions of stars littering the walls, if there were any; the room seemed to go on forever. In the middle of the room was a huge, black bean bag, and a cool breeze was blowing her hair.

"Woah, this looks _exactly _like space," she whispered.

Janie sat down on the giant bean bag and closed her eyes, appreciating the breeze against her face. She wished that just for once, that nothing was complicated and that there was an "easy" button, which she could press to solve any mystery.

---

_Damn, where is she? She was just here-oh no_.

Severus ran to a corridor, and stood outside a vast stretch of bricks and started pacing.

_I need to find my daughter_. _I need to find my daughter_. _I need to find_-"

His thoughts skidded to a halt, his daughter. He was a father, to a daughter. It didn't really hit him until now. Severus Snape, the mean, snarky bat from down under, had a daughter who loved him, and now…he lost her.

_I **need **to find **my **daughter_.

Suddenly, an oak door appeared, and Severus lunged towards it, and flung it open. He found the room to be exactly as his daughter had found it. He quietly shut the door and walked over to where Janie was currently laying on the bean bag.

"Janie?" Severus said, just above a whisper.

When he didn't receive an answer, he walked over and knelt next to the bean bag, finding his daughter curled up in a ball, tears running down her cheeks.

"Janie?" Still no answer; Severus decided she was either sleeping or ignoring him, he hoped she was sleeping.

Severus stood up, and picked his daughter up. Her eyes were still closed, but her tears had stopped falling.

"Don't ever run away again Janie, you really had me worried."

"Don't worry Dad," she whispered. "I won't."

Severus carried his daughter back to the Hospital Wing in silence, only having Janie fall fast asleep in his arms.

---

Severus laid Janie down on the nearest hospital bed, which Madam Pomfrey had pulled closer to Hermione's hoping against all odds that Severus would sleep in it, instead of a chair.

Hermione was still the same as he had left her, except now she was hooked up to the I.V. machine.

"Is she alright Severus? That was quite some display back there."

Severus glared at his fellow colleague."

"Ms. Granger will be alright, don't worry; just make sure that she doesn't move as to where it would upset the I.V. in her arm."

"Make sure her stitches don't pop out either," Poppy chimed in.

"Poppy, what did I tell you? They're not…going…to pop out!" Minerva spoke, getting quite annoyed with her friend's endless concerned about Hermione's stitches.

Minerva and Poppy turned to Severus when they heard him dragging a hard, wooden chair in between the two beds, earning a scowl from Madam Pomfrey, and a few whispered words.

"You're right Poppy," Minerva said, and with a swish of her wand, Severus found himself sitting in an over-sized armchair.

"What-"

"Hush Severus. If I know you, you're going to sit in that damn chair all night long, and then be grouchy in the morning, which nobody wants."

He sent an icy glare towards McGonagall, before he tried to defend himself.

"That _doesn't _mean that I'm going to be _grouchy_ in the morning."

Minerva sent him an equally icy glare, "I'm leaving. And Severus, God forbid if I come back and find you seated on one of those damn chairs. Because if I do, you're going to find yourself in a bottle among all those other disgusting things in your office."

Snape looked at her incredulously, "You wouldn't dare."

"Watch me."

Severus glared at her all the way out the door and down the hall, muttering something about warding the Hospital Wing off to her.

A little bit later, Poppy bid them goodnight, which relieved Severus. He was getting tired of her watching the three of them like a hawk, looking from Severus to his daughter, then back to him again. He was glad that she didn't say anything to him.

As he heard the door click, Snape sighed and looked at Hermione.

_What have you gotten yourself into now? All you had to do was deliver a potion, it's not _that hard. _Unless_…_no, he couldn't be her client_…

Severus was pulled out of his reverie when he felt a tugging on his sleeve. He turned around and was met with a pair of black eyes.

"Aren't you tired?"

"A little."

"Then why are you up," he asked softly.

"Because, she said as she pulled up a chair to sit next to him.

"No, don't sit there, it's uncomfortable," he said as he moved over and patted a space next to him. "The chair is really big, there's enough room here, if you want to sit down, but you should be resting in the bed."

"I already rested in bed, and I'm going to stay right here."

Severus sighed; he knew he wasn't going to get her to go back to bed.

"You know your mother's going to be fine, right?"

"Of course, because she has you to watch over her now, the both of us do."

Severus sat there, shocked. He had never expected to hear something like that, ever. He kept going over her words again and again in his head, until he felt something against his left arm. He looked down and inwardly smiled; Janie was now using his arm as a pillow.

Father and daughter stayed like that for awhile, until Severus finally felt sleep tugging at his eyelids. It was almost two in the morning.

**A/N: Thanks to all of those who reviewed! I am happy to say that thanks to everyone's help, the two previous problems have been solved! Thanks to everyone's help, and I'll try to update the next chapter faster than I did this one. (The _Estómago Sangriento Potion_, in Spanish means, The Bloody Stomach Potion.)**


	12. Secrets Revealed

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters (unfortunately), they all belong to the fabulous J.K. Rowling. Oh, and I'm making _absolutely_ no money on this; all I get are reviews, which are fine by me.**

**---**

"Albus, this wasn't part of the plan," said a very concerned Minerva McGonagall.

"Yes, but I think it will work for the better."

"Work…work for the better? Ms. Granger could have died! If it wasn't for Severus-"

"Exactly. Although I wasn't down there, from what I heard from you and Poppy, I think this was actually a…positive turn of events, if you will."

"You're serious?"

"Minerva, you yourself said that he would not leave her side; he even stitched the wound himself. The Severus Snape I know wouldn't even stitch something on his own mother shut."

"And he even let Poppy throw out one of those God-forsaken frock coats he always wears; God forbid if anything happens to them."

"See, this is a good thing. And I highly, highly doubt that he will leave her tonight. Besides, I'm sure Poppy will have Hermione stay at least a few days and we can't split the three of them up now, can we?"

"Are you sure Severus will actually stay?"

"He won't leave his daughter alone in the castle, and she won't leave her mother at a time like this."

"I hope you have something else, other than this theory of yours."

"Oh, don't worry Minerva, I assure that I do."

---

Hermione's eyes fluttered open shortly after sunrise, feeling like she was unable to move. Her left arm would barely move, and upon closer inspection, she realized that there was an I.V. lodged in her arm. Sighing, she tried to sit up, but the pain that was now evident, wouldn't let her. Giving up, she laid back down on the pillow and closed her eyes, only to have them snap back open when she heard somebody else breathing. Hermione tilted her heard over to her right ever so slightly, and the sight that she saw, made her heart melt.

The feared Potion's Master of Hogwarts was sound asleep (Hermione pointed out that he looked a lot younger than he had), with his daughter wrapped around his one arm. With an ease crossing over her features, Hermione closed her eyes with the knowledge that everything would eventually be alright.

---

At nine o'clock that very same morning, Severus Snape was being given a very rude wake-up call.

"Severus Snape, get up!" Minerva said, knocking into his chair.

When she had originally entered the room, she had found Janie's head resting on her father's arm, one hand draped around his shoulders, and one barely touch his one leg. This was one position that she thought she would never, ever see the Potion's Master in; a camera would have been nice.

Minerva had awakened Janie minutes before, and had sent the girl to the bathroom with a bundle of clothes.

Snape groaned, and in return, the Transfiguration Professor kicked his chair with an unusually strong force for an old woman.

"Severus, get," she leaned in towards his ear and yelled "UP!"

Poor Snape; he tried to get up so fast, he tripped over his own feet and went diving face-first into the floor.

"Well, I give that a 10."

"Minerva," Severus hissed. "What the _hell_ was that for?"

"Staff meeting Severus, remember?"

"Yes, and I'm _not_ going."

"You have to."

"Oh, no I don't."

"Do you want me to tell the staff about Janie then?"

"Go ahead, I'm not leaving this room, and you are _not _bringing the meeting here."

"Nothing is going to happen to her Severus; Madam Pomfrey will be here to make sure of that."

"What if she wakes up and I'm…Janie's not here?"

The older witch raised an eyebrow before continuing, "I'm sure Poppy will be pleased to tell her why you were dragged out of here this morning."

"Dragged?"

"Yes; I will drag you out of here myself; the Headmaster thinks it's of 'great importance' that you inform the staff of your daughter today."

"Well, you can tell Albus to take his staff meeting and 'great importance' and shove it up his-"

"Morning Dad, Professor McGonagall," Janie said as she walked in, wearing midnight blue witch robes that sparkled with stars, her hair pulled up into a ponytail.

"Janie, you look so cute!" Minerva said as she "forgot" all about Severus for the moment. "I trust that those robes fit you alright?"

"Yes, they're so cool; where did you get them?"

"I called an old friend for a favor this morning; they're yours now, if you want them."

"These are awesome; I've never seen anything like them before!"

"Minerva, what have you done to my daughter?" Severus asked as he looked from the old witch to Janie; they were wearing the _same_ thing, except the older witch had on a matching hat.

"Hush up Severus and get ready. Janie and I will be waiting here for you when you're done."

As Severus grudgingly left the Hospital Wing, he heard Minerva ask, "Janie, you know, you'd look so cute if you had a hat to match with what you're wearing."

_If I come back, and she's wearing a matching hat to go along with her outfit, I know my days are numbered if I stay here; Minerva is going to drive me insane, and she'll enjoy it too_.

Severus returned ten minutes later to find that sure enough, Janie had a matching hat on her head.

"Minerva, are you _trying _to turn my daughter into a miniature you?"

Janie giggled.

"No, but now that you mention it, that would be nice, wouldn't it Janie?"

"Umm, sure Professor."

Severus followed the two out of the Hospital Wing, but before he continued on, he turned around one last time and froze; Hermione had a small grin plastered right upon her face. Minerva turned around to make sure that Severus was following her, and was not surprised when he wasn't.

"You're like a child in a toy store Severus, let's go."

Hermione's grin grew larger, making Severus move more towards the end of the Hospital Wing."

"You're going the wrong way."

"No, I'm not. Hermione…Ms. Granger's awake."

"You can call her Hermione Severus; it won't burn your tongue."

Hermione sniggered, immediately grabbing her side.

"She'll be awake when you come back. Who knows, Albus might even let you leave early."

Sighing in defeat, the Potion's Master started walking towards the Teacher's Lounge, breezing past Minerva, while his daughter kept up with him.

As they entered the classroom, Janie saw a few people already sitting there, and only one of them she knew, Remus Lupin. Among Remus, there were only a few other members of the staff present: Professors Flitwick, Sprout, Hagrid, and who would have guessed Trelawney. Minerva pulled motioned to them two chairs on one side of where Dumbledore would sit, and then she took the chair on the other side.

Snape looked around the room noticing that Remus had been looking at the two, when he gave them a warm smile; Snape glared at him.

"Wow Severus, you look tired; long night?" Remus asked.

"It looks like you slept on a chair all night," Professor Sinstra added in.

Snape growled, "It's none of your business the way I spend my nights Lupin, or the way I sleep, Sinstra."

"So you did sleep on a chair." Sinstra stated, earning Minerva's elbow in her stomach.

"He's just cranky; no coffee this morning," Janie said, trying to advert attention from her father.

"Oh, and who are you?" The nosy witch asked.

Just before Severus was about to make up a rude comment, Dumbledore came in the room, followed by several other staff members.

"Ah, I see that everybody was able to make it back to Hogwarts for the new term safely," the Headmaster said, looking directly at Minerva and then Severus; the older witch nodded.

"Good, good. Yes, the new year here is upon us, once again. No doubt, everybody is ready?"

Many nods were seen around the room, along with a few grumbles of "yes."

Dumbledore went on explaining the changes that were made for the term, at which Severus tuned him out, like he did every year. He was slightly embarrassed when his daughter knocked him in the gut and the whole staff had their attention turned on him.

"Severus, so nice of you to join us again. Is there something you would like to tell the staff?"

"Yes," Severus stated, as he stood up, motioning his daughter to do the same.

"I would like you to meet my daughter, Janie."

A gasp was heard from Madam Hooch dropping her coffee on herself, followed by several murmurs.

"She will be joining us in the fall."

"A week," corrected Dumbledore.

"Yes, well anyways, she'll be here in a week's time."

"Severus," squeaked Professor Flitwick as he ran up to shake the man's hand. "Why have you kept such a cutie like this away from us? You could have at least shown us a picture. Congratulations, by the way."

Professor Sprout took one look at Janie and her eyes started to water, along with Minerva (who Severus had no idea why she would cry now, when she had already met Janie). Remus came over and also shook Severus' hand and Hagrid had given him a bone-crushing hug. Most of the older woman went by Janie to ask her questions, but Professor Sinstra sat there looking very pissed off.

The meeting went like for another fifteen minutes, until Dumbledore had finally excused them.

"Severus and Janie, you may go now, there's no need for the two of you to stay the rest of the meeting. Besides, I'm sure Ms. Granger will be looking forwards to seeing you both again."

Snape sent him a glare that would send a fourth year crying. He had graciously avoided the subject of Janie's mother all day, and that old man had just ruined it in a matter of seconds.

Many whispers broke out around the room and Severus happily lead his daughter out of the room and down the hall, a pair of twinkling blue eyes following them all the way.

---

As they walked down the Hospital Wing, they found the curtains drawn half-way around Hermione's bed. When Severus quietly walked around the curtains, he froze. There sat Hermione, glasses perched on her nose, reading a book.

"Mummy!" Janie exclaimed as she nearly ran into her father.

"Hi you two, I was wondering when you'd be coming back."

---

Hermione was forced to stay in the Hospital in for almost two more days, at which time, Severus and Janie had barely left her side. Poppy was getting aggravated that Hermione wasn't getting all the rest she needed, so she sent Janie off with Remus, much to Severus' dismay. He decided to stay though, because he needed to talk to Hermione; whom he had actually started calling by her first name (this was mostly due to Minerva's threats that she gave him when she heard him calling her "Ms. Granger"). As Janie finally disappeared through the door, Severus sat down next to Hermione's bed on a chair.

"Hermione, I need to know something important and you _need _to tell me the answer."

She looked up at him, "Depends on what it is."

He sighed. "I need to know _exactly _who gave you that potion and why."

"Why?"

"So that I can make sure that nothing can happen again."

"To whom: me or someone else?"

"Both."

_So much for just me_. Hermione thought to herself.

"But mostly to make sure that this doesn't happen to you again."

_That's better_.

"I suppose, if it's for protecting people."

"Good. Start when you arrived at your client's house."

"I brought the _Love Amor _drought to their house, well; it was actually more like a mansion. When I knocked on the door, their house elf invited me in, and I was greeted by my client."

"Who's your client?"

"Zeek Malfoy, Draco's younger brother," she said quietly. "I know I shouldn't consider him, but he's my top-paying client. When I told him how much it was, he nearly shit his pants. Then, he wanted to know why it cost so much, so I told him and he wasn't pleased. He told me he'd be right back, but when he came back, he immobilized me. He said something about me learning my lesson about cheating people out of their money. If anyone should be taught a lesson, it should be him on the value of potion's ingredients. But anyways, he opened my mouth and poured down a potion that I had never seen before, took the other potion, and threw half of what it was worth in my hands. Then, I left."

Severus was now out of his chair by now, heading towards Madam Pomfrey's office.

"Where are you going?"

"To teach that little prick a lesson."

"Severus!"

He spun around, it was the first time in a long time, that he had heard her say his name.

"Don't go," she said as she made her way to get out of bed.

"Stay there, and I'm going. That boy is going to learn to treat others with respect."

Hermione was now out of bed and sprinting to his side.

_Oww! I shouldn't be doing this_... Hermione thought to herself.

Hermione came up right behind Severus and wrapped her arms tightly around his stomach.

"What are you doing out of-"

"NO! Severus, you ARE NOT going over there now. And if I _ever _hear that you have gone over there again, you'll be in for a very, _very_ rude awakening," she said, still clinging on to him.

"Hermione," he gasped. "Please don't make this any harder than it already is."

"How is this hard? It's simple, I let go and you sit. Back. Down."

"Hermione, let go of me, you're hurting yourself and I can't breathe properly," he said as she slightly released her grip.

"How is it hard?"

"Do you really want to know why it's hard?"

"Yes."

"For starters, I just got back from having to endure the whole staff marvel at our daughter. Then, you can add in the fact that you were sitting in a hospital bed, and everybody was unsure if you'd make it out alright. Not to mention that while you were unconscious, I had no idea what to do, and that annoyed the hell out of me. I was so worried that something bad would happen to you, and I never want that to happen again, because every time you get hurt, it rips a piece away from my heart." Snape paused; he had just poured out his worries to the very woman he was trying to hide them from and he sure wasn't going to go any farther.

He turned around to find Hermione standing quietly behind him, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I didn't know…"

He stood there for a second, utterly shocked until Hermione threw herself at him and cried into his chest. All Severus could do was stand there with her and pat her back, telling her that everything would be alright.

---

**A/N: I would like to thank badminnie08, for helping me out a little bit on this chapter. I hope this chapter turned out alright, I was a little unsure about how the staff meeting should go and of course, the ending part. It would have been out over the weekend, but my Hnrs. Chemistry teacher decided to throw two written reports due on Monday. Let's see, next up will be the much-anticipated arrival of, you guessed it, Hogwarts!**


	13. Sorting, Friends, and Fights

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't keep any of the characters hidden under my bed (although, I wish I had a few of them), they're all kept in J.K. Rowling's genius mind. Also, I'm not selling this story to make any money, even though some extra cash would be nice.**

**I had a busy week, so I didn't quite get the chapter out when I wanted; I hope this will make up for the delay.**

**---**

A week later found Hermione hugging her daughter for the umpteenth time. They were currently standing Platform 9 ¾, Harry, Ron, and Ginny in toll.

"Hermione, will you stop gagging your daughter?" Harry joked.

"I wouldn't worry about Janie dying of suffocation, I'd be more worried about dying of embarrassment," Ron said, earning a blow to the back of the head.

"Mum, really; I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. Besides, isn't Hogwarts one of the safest places to be? It's not like I'll be sneaking around a brewing potions in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," she said with a smirk.

"Who told you that?"

Janie pointed at Harry and Ron and then ran off towards the train as she heard its whistle.

"Be careful Janie! Oh, and don't forget to write!" Hermione yelled as she waved at her daughter.

"Don't worry Mum, I won't!" She said, but seeing the look on her mother's face, she continued, "I was just kidding! Of course I'll write!" Janie yelled out the train's window as it pulled out of the station.

"So 'Mione, how does it feel?" Harry asked Hermione, as they started to walk away from other two.

"How does what feel?"

"Your little girl is all grown-up and she is going to Hogwarts."

"Harry, you know she'll always be my little girl. But as going to Hogwarts, it was inevitable."

"Yeah, I guess so; but do you know what else is inevitable?"

"Oh no, what?"

"The talk that you are going to have with Ginny later!"

"Why?"

"Because

she won't let me take her out for dinner."

"I am _not _going to get mixed up with you and Ginny."

"You already are. Besides, it's your fault anyways."

"My-my fault? How can that be _my _fault?"

"She still thinks that Janie is my child, and not Snape's."

"Stop talking about my daughter like she's an object."

"'Mione, she won't let me take her out for dinner, because she apparently thinks that 'I don't do or care enough for my responsibilities'."

"She said that to you?"

"She said that to my face."

"I'll have to think about this."

"Please 'Mione? C'mon, you and Snape are on level ground again. Maybe on a little _more_ than level ground," Harry said, but murmured the last part.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"That's what I thought. Besides, I don't think he'll appreciate all of the Weasley family knowing that his daughter's mother is their best friend. No offense to anyone, though."

"I don't think you have to worry about Ginny knowing, it's Ron you'll have to worry about; he hates Snape. You don't want Ron to find out yet, do you?" Harry asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Hermione's face took on the appearance of pure horror.

"No, I don't want him to find out yet," she hissed. "He'd be furious. So, if that's what you really want Harry, then I'll talk to her," Hermione said in defeat.

"Thanks Hermione," Harry said, as they turned to continue out of King's Cross Station, but stopped dead in their tracks.

"You _can't _be _serious_," said a very red-faced Ronald Weasley.

---

Janie pulled open the door to one of the last empty compartments and took a seat. The small pathways in the train were bustling with students trying to find their friends. Suddenly, the door to the compartment opened letting in a boy and girl, both who had black hair and looked oddly similar.

"Hi! You don't mind if we sit here, do you?" The boy with short, spikey hair asked.

"Go ahead. I'm Janie by the way."

"Hi Janie," said the young girl. "My name is Lyss, and this is my twin brother, Matt."

"We're both first years," added Matt.

"Cool; I'm a first year too," replied Janie.

The conversation was pleasant, until the trolley had pulled up. Between the three of them, a quarter of the cart had been bought. They ate their candies, while talking about the professors of Hogwarts. Janie stopped eating her chocolate frog (the card inside was Harry), as soon as the conversation was turned to Professor Snape.

"Most of the professors at Hogwarts are nice, with the exception of Professor Snape," Matt said.

"Oh, I've heard about him," Lyss added.

"Really?" Janie asked, playing stupid to the whole thing.

"Yeah, everybody knows that he favors the Slytherins; our older brother, Nick, told us so."

"Well, he _is _the Head of Slytherin," Janie butted in.

"That shouldn't matter," Lyss said.

"I'm sure all the stories aren't _that _bad. I mean, my uncles Harry and Ron warned me a little about them, but other than that, I heard he's a nice guy."

"You what?" Matt asked, spitting bits of pumpkin cakes all over the floor.

"Yeah, I've met him before; he seems cool."

"Wow; I've never heard 'cool' associated with Professor Snape before," Matt said.

"So Matt, what else have you heard about the professors at Hogwarts?" Lyss asked, clearly trying to change the subject.

---

About an hour later, Janie and Lyss were hastily trying to put on their school robes.

"Hurry up you two! Just pull them over the clothes you're wearing now and let's go," Matt said, trying to usher them out of the compartment into the once again crowded hallways.

"Shush Matt."

"Everybody's leaving."

"They're what?" Janie exclaimed, as she poked her head out of the compartment, only to almost getting her head whacked by a older boy's bag.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Alright, I'm done," Lyss said, as she followed the three out into the emptying hallways and out of the train and into Hogsmeade.

"Firs' years, righ' this way!" A giant of a man said; Janie walked up to him.

"Ye' a firs' year, righ'?"

"Yes, sir," Janie said. "I have a message for you."

"Alrigh'"

"Harry Potter and Ron Weasley say 'hi'."

The giant's face lit up with excitement. "Yeh know Harry and Ron?"

"Yes, and Hermione would like to send her regards and hopes you are doing well."

"How do you know them all?" He asked, clearly not remembering the staff meeting.

"Oh, Hermione's my Mum."

Hagrid's eyes twinkled with delight. "She is now, is she?"

"Yep."

"Oh, ye' must come over for tea one day-"

"Janie."

Just then, Hagrid's mind clicked. "I didn't know that your Mum was 'Mione. But, your father, he's…he's-"

"Shh," Janie said, putting her finger over her mouth and then she turned back to her friends, who stood there shocked, both looking like fish.

"You know Harry Potter?" Matt asked incredulously.

"Hermione Granger's your mother?" Lyss asked.

"Yes; she's my mum and Harry's like my uncle."

"That is so cool!" Matt exclaimed as he climbed into one of the wooden boats.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Janie said, suddenly realizing that everybody would know about her 'family.'

"Woah, look at that!" Matt exclaimed; he was pointing at one of the giant squid's tentacles.

"Be careful Matty, we wouldn't want you to fall in," Lyss said.

"Don't call me that," he said, whipping around to give his younger sister a glare, and then turned back to stare in awe at the enormous creature.

"Did you know that some students feed it bread?"

"How do you know that?"

"My dad told me."

"Oh."

"Hey, I have some pumpkin pastries left!" Matt said, as he pulled out half of a pastry from his robe pockets.

Matt went to reach over to throw the remaining pastry into the water, but he tripped on his robe and was sent tumbling overboard.

"Matt," shrieked Lyss, as she ran over to the other side of the boat, followed by Janie.

When both girls looked over and saw that he was making circular motions with his arms to stay afloat, they started laughing.

"I _told you _to be careful Matty! But you didn't listen, did you?"

"Are you going to help me or not?"

"Well, that depends; can I call you Matty?"

"No."

"Alright then, you can _swim _back to Hogwarts now."

"Janie?"

"I do like the name 'Matty'. You know what; I think I'm going to name my dog that when I get one."

"What? Oh no, not you too."

"Sorry Matty, you're stuck-" Lyss stopped as a giant tentacle wrapped itself around the young boy and lifted him onto the boat; the two girls immediately stopped laughing.

"Yeah, its not so funny now, is it?"

Lyss leaned over and whispered into Janie's ear, which made them both snigger. When Matt shot them both a glare, they went quiet once more.

As they stepped out onto the shore, Hagrid took Matt back to his cabin to retrieve a towel.

"Ah, I see another first year has fallen into the lake again this year," said Professor McGonagall, who was standing in the doorway to Hogwarts. "Well come now, we don't want to keep all the others waiting."

Janie looked at her fellow students and smirked at their awed faces.

"Janie, isn't this place awesome?" Lyss asked.

"It sure is," Janie said as McGonagall ushered them all inside and started to talk about house points and other such things.

When they started to walk into the Great Hall, a series of "ooos" and "ahs" could be heard.

The sorting hat had started its customary entrance song and the whole hall went quiet. When it had finally finished, Professor McGonagall started to call the students up one by one.

"Aaron, Jessica."

A tall blonde girl started walking towards the sorting hat and sat down on the stool. The hat was placed on her head, and moments later, the hat yelled out its decision.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"I heard that girl loves to spread rumors," Lyss whispered.

"And how do you know that?" Janie asked.

"My cousin went to a Muggle school with her."

"Oh."

"Avery, James."

A small boy with brown hair walked up and the hat was placed on his head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled.

James was the first Gryffindor so far; everybody else had been in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.

The three kept talking (Matt had finally joined them again), until the twins' names were called up.

"Carter, Alyssa."

The two gave her reassuring smiles as she walked up and the hat was placed on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Carter, Matthew."

Matt walked up and did the same thing and he was also placed in Gryffindor. Having been left alone, Janie was forced to listen to where everybody was being put.

Severus was watching his daughter from the second she walked in the door.

_Perfect_, Severus thought. _She's already hanging around with Gryffindors_.

He watched his daughter ignore everybody around her and her friends, but as soon as they left, he smirked at the look of annoyance that dawned upon her face. His smirk quickly faded when a look of panic crossed her features.

"Hamelton, Mark," McGonagall called out; they had skipped Granger.

Both father and daughter listened intently to the rest of the names being called. Severus the whole time thinking that Dumbledore would have it coming to him for not warning him of what Janie's last name upon the arrival of Hogwarts would be.

"Serne, Michael…Sinely, April…Snape, Jane."

As soon as the name Snape left the hat's mouth, the entire hall went dead silent; everybody in the hall looked from daughter to father. The only movement in the hall, came from Matt hitting Lyss at the Gryffindor table. As Professor McGonagall raised the hat onto Janie's head, she gave her a small smile.

"Ah-ha!" The hat exclaimed. "I've been waiting forever for something like this to happen, and here you are, a genius combination! Hmm, your mother's a Gryffindor and your father's a Slytherin…interesting. No doubt you have a brilliant mind, and a hidden potential...yes, I think I know _exactly _where to put you-" The hat stopped, finally able to hear Janie's almost inaudible pleas.

"I want to be in a house where my parents belonged. I want to grow up like them. I need to know-"

"Are you sure? If you're in Ravenclaw, you'd be around people that would be able to match your intelligence and think, like you do."

"NO!" Janie's eyes snapped open.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"Yes!"

"Better be…GRYFFINDOR!"

The whole hall watched as Janie joined her friends at the Gryffindor table, and then shifted their eyes towards the Potion's Master, whom looked ready to fall off his chair. McGonagall took her seat next to the shocked father when she was finished with the sorting. As she sat down, she elbowed him in the ribs, saying something that nobody could make out. Whatever it was, it made Snape roll his eyes.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and gave his annual start-of-the-term announcements. Filch had, once again, banned everything that the Weasley twins have ever made. When Dumbledore had finally finished, he raised his hands and the whole hall exploded with food.

"Janie, why didn't you tell us that you're related to Professor Snape?" Lyss asked.

"Because if you did, we wouldn't have said anything about him," Matt added in.

"It's alright."

"So, how are you related to him?" Matt asked, earning an elbow in his gut.

"That's rude to ask Matt," Lyss hissed in his ear.

"It's alright. Professor Snape," Janie lowered her voice considerably as she spoke the next part. "He's my father."

Both twins' mouths just about hit the floor.

"You're kidding, right?" Matt asked incredulously, earning a glare from his sister.

"Since you're his daughter, are you a vampire too?" Matt asked.

"A…what?" Janie asked in disbelief.

"A vampire. You know, those creatures that can turn into bats, have fangs, and suck the blood out of you to survive?"

"My father is _not _a vampire, and neither am I."

"Aw; I always wanted to be friends with a vampire."

"Matthew, where in the world did you get the idea that Professor Snape, is a vampire?"

"Nick."

"Our brother? You dummy; he was only trying to scare you, and now you've probably offended Janie."

"Janie's not offended, are you Janie?"

"Um, no, not really; at least I know how the older kids think of him now. Besides, my Uncle Ron has said a few other things about him. But that was only because Ron and my dad don't get along too well."

"Why?"

"Some potion's mishap; it was a long time ago though."

"Oh."

Matt started talking to Lyss about the new broomstick that was coming out in a few months, and Janie had lost interest; she was fine with her broomstick for the time being. Janie had found that watching her father proved to be much more interesting, because he looked like he was about to die.

Professor McGonagall kept talking to him and poking him in the shoulder, making Snape roll his eyes and glare at anyone who passed the Head Table. Then, he turned to face the elder witch and spoke. Whatever he had said, made McGonagall turn red in the face and turn away from him; the Potion's Master looked very pleased with himself.

When the feast had ended, Janie led her two friends to the Gryffindor common room (she actually just followed the crowd), and once inside, over to a table by one of the windows. They talked about their time at Hogwarts so far, and about how many people had made their way into the common room, because it was quite crowded by now. They were interrupted some time later by Sam Kirkbour, a fellow first year.

"Excuse me, but are you really related to Professor Snape?"

Janie raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"I was just wondering, because I didn't know that Professor Snape had a kid."

"Who said he was my father?" Janie asked as the little girl scurried over to a group of seventh years. She stayed there for a few moments while a boy was whispering something in her ear, and then she scurried back.

"Are you sure that you're not Professor Snape's daughter?"

"I never said I wasn't"

"So, you are?"

"I never said that either," Janie was scowling at the girl by now, because she had ran back to the group of older kids.

"What are you going to do about them?" Matt asked.

"It's not her, it's _them_," she said, glaring in the group's direction, when the little girl came scurrying back.

"Well, if you're not his daughter, then who are you? You look a little like him, and you even _act _like him."

"How do I act like him, you don't even know me," Janie said as the little girl went to turn around again.

"No," Janie said, standing up. "Don't go back to them; _I'm _going back to them." And with that, Janie walked right up to the group of seventh years.

"Is there a problem?" One of the taller girls asked.

"Yes, as a matter-of-fact there is," Janie said, crossing her arms.

"And, what would that be?" One of the boys asked.

"If you have something to say to my face, do it, and don't go having somebody else do it; Sam's braver that all of you."

Ignoring Janie's last comment, the older boy pressed on, "Tell me, are you related to that bat-of-the-dungeons?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me; or do you not know who he really is?"

The boy crouched down so he was even with Janie. "Did your mommy try to hide him from you, because he's a slime ball? Did-." The boy was cut off as Janie's fist came smashing into his nose; she was absolutely fuming.

"How _dare _you talk about him like that!" Janie snarled.

At this point, the entire common room went dead silent.

"Nobody talks about my father like that," Janie said as her pendant started to grow a dark yellow.

"So, he _is _your father? Do you have a mother, or did she drop you off at his door step?" The boy on the ground asked, as he was trying to cover up his bloody nose.

If you couldn't tell that Janie was angry, you could certainly tell now. The whole common room watched in awe as Janie's eyes took a yellow tint to them and a slight wind started to pick up around her. As soon as the seventh years saw the magic being released by someone six years younger than them, they started to back up. The only person who wasn't watching was Sam, who ran out of the room to fetch Professor McGonagall.

"For your _information_, I have a father _and _a mother, so you can keep your bloody mouths shut and if I ever, _ever_-"

"It figures that you have your father's temper-"

Janie lunged at the boy on the ground as soon as he said this, and landed right on top of him. As soon as she raised her hand to smack him, a pair of strong hands lifted her up into the air.

"Janie, _what are you doing_?"

Janie turned around and saw a very shocked Severus Snape holding her tight in his grasp.

"Mr. and Ms. Carter, would you please follow us?" Came the voice of Professor McGonagall.

Matt and Lyss followed their Professors out, while Janie was being held over her father's shoulder; the entire common room in awe that their Potion's Professor was in their common room, never mind carry his daughter out.

---

**A/N: Firstly, I would like to thank gavynsgirl for giving me the idea to have Janie explode in the common room. I was going to have her friends drag her up to her dormitory, but I think Snape taking her out of the common room will help their relationship in the upcoming chapters. Secondly, I hope I made the right choice where Janie was placed. In the future chapters, you'll see why she was placed where she was. I'm working on the next chapter now, so hopefully it will be out before this one was. Thanks to everyone who has read the story so far and to those who had reviewed! (I'm still trying to reply to everybody's reviews, I just want you to know that they're not forgotten!). Thanks!**


	14. The Trouble With Professors

**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own any of these character's, they all belong to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. I'm not making any money off of this either, even though I don't fathom why people think I might.**

--

Professor McGonagall lead the way down the corridor, followed by Professor Snape, Janie, and then the twins brought up the rear.

Janie was still fuming and was also still hanging over her father's shoulder. By now, she had stopped trying to get out of her father's strong grasp, because all the squirming she had done proved to be fruitless.

McGonagall had finally stopped walking and turned around to face the group that was following her.

"Mr. and Ms. Carter, would you please go into my office and have a seat in front of my desk? Ms. Snape, when your father puts you down, I would like you to wait out here until I call you; don't move. Severus, please retrieve Damien Brushour and take him to the Hospital Wing; I'm afraid that he has a broken nose."

Severus went to protest, but McGonagall held up her hand. "Just do it Severus; she's in _my _house, remember?"

"She may be in your house, but she's _my _daughter."

"And you will see her when I'm done talking to her. Now put her down and go."

Snape sneered at his fellow colleague and lifted Janie off his shoulder, pausing when he saw her face. For the first time, he noticed that her eyes were glowing a soft dark yellow and her pendant was now glowing a yellow/green color. Severus stared into his daughter's eyes, his face showing concern and curiosity.

"I don't think your daughter wants to be hanging in the air all day, Severus."

The Potion's Master reluctantly put his daughter down, her eyes not wondering away from her father's face. After Janie was safely set on the ground, he turned in the direction that they had came from and stormed down the hallway.

When Janie's Head-of-House had finally disappeared through her doorway, Janie sunk down on the floor and put her head in her hands.

_Perfect_, she thought. _My first night in Hogwarts and I'm already in trouble, and even worse- my father's the one who caught me_.

Janie sat with her head against the wall until she heard footsteps coming from down the hallway. She turned her head and immediately stood up; her father was dragging the seventh year boy down the hallway, by his sleeve.

As they passed, the boy slowed down and looked at Janie. When he opened his mouth to say something, Snape let go of his sleeve and grabbed onto the collar of his robes.

"Let's go," Snape said harshly as he yanked on the Gryffindor's collar.

Damien looked shocked for a moment, and then sneered at Janie, who in returned smirked (hey, he was the one who was getting into trouble at the moment, not her). Just as the two were about to turn a corner, he looked back and Janie in turn, stuck her tongue out at him and crossed her arms. Damien tried running back towards her, but his Professor still had a strong hold on his collar, and tugged it hard.

"Professor," she heard the boy complain from down the hall. "Didn't you just see that? Aren't you going to take points off?"

"Shut up boy, or you're going to find yourself in more trouble than you already are."

"Oh wait, you're not going to take points of from your daughter now are you? Even if she _is _in Gryffindor."

Janie crept down the to the corner of the corridor, and poked her head around, just in time to see her father turn around and raise the boy up so that he was level with him.

"Say that to my face, boy," he spat.

"You know, your daughter said almost the same thing to my face."

Snape raised an eyebrow at him and let him go, which caused Damien to hit the floor.

"Get up Mr. Brush-"

"Ms. Snape!" McGonagall called from her office door, making Janie cringe. "I thought I asked you to wait outside my office?"

Snape's head popped up, just in time to see his daughter's head disappear from around the corner.

"Mr. Brushour, if I _ever_ hear of you provoking other students or harassing my daughter again, you'll be in detention with Filch _everyday _until the end of _next_ summer, regardless of graduation or not. And by the way, thanks to your little display right now, you have detention with Filch for three weeks; four if you keep it up."

This seemed to put the boy back into his place, because he immediately shut up and the hall was once again quiet, with the exception of McGonagall trying to usher Janie into her office.

Once both were seated in the Transfiguration's Professor's office, the said Professor broke the silence.

"What happened in the common room, Ms. Snape?"

Janie told her teacher exactly what had happened in the common room. When she was finished, she was utterly shocked, to say the least, that her Professor was smiling at her, because she was expecting to get in a lot of trouble.

"Ginger snap?" The older witch asked, pointing to a small container on her desk.

"No thank you."

"Your father and I got quite the sight when we entered the common room. We saw all the students staring in shock as you lunged at Mr. Brushour. I must say though, that I don't think I have ever seen Severus move so quick in my life."

"How did you know what was going on?"

"Ms. Kirkbour had alerted me, and I in turn, alerted Professor Snape."

"Oh."

The room was quiet for a few moments, until her Professor broke the silence again, smiling.

"Defending your father already, are we?"

Janie looked up and nodded.

"At least someone does it."

"What do you mean?"

"Janie, you need to know that Professor Snape is not the most well-liked teacher here at Hogwarts."

"I know."

"It's really quite sad that the students don't get to see the true side of him. In fact, very few people ever do; you should consider your self very lucky."

She nodded.

"And I'm truly glad that you stuck up for him."

"You are?"

"Yes. Just because he's a...strict teacher, doesn't mean that some of the students treat him the way they do. But when you do stick up for him, please don't do it in a physical way; let this be a warning to you."

"Yes ma'am.," Janie said as she got up from the chair to leave.

"Oh, and Janie?"

"Yes?"

"Let's try to not break anyone else's nose this year, alright?"

She blushed, "Of course."

Janie was now making her way to Gryffindor tower, by using the long way. Peeves had, once again, found a way to shut down a corridor for all the inhabitants in the castle. The way that she was taking, just so happened to run right in front of the Infirmary, which she was just passing, and turned to look through the window.

Through the window, she saw Professor Dumbledore talking to the seventh year boy. Janie was as she passed, until Dumbledore turned his head and looked out the window; his eyes were twinkling like mad towards her. He smiled and then, if possible, his eyes were now twinkling to the point that would blind any person that would look directly at them.

Janie started walking again, still watching the attempts that Dumbledore was making so that Damien could not see out the window. She was almost passed the Infirmary, when she hit something hard.

_Strange, I don't remember a wall being here_.

"It doesn't do any good to provoke him any farther," said a silky voice.

_Uh-oh_, Janie thought as she looked up at her towering father.

"Just curious. Besides, Peeves blocked off the corridor into Gryffindor tower, so I was merely cutting through."  
"Is that so?" Severus asked, his arms crossed and his eyebrow raised.

"Yes sir," Janie said, crossing her arms, almost as if she was sending out a challenge.

"Janie," Snape said, as his face softened. "You don't have to call me 'sir' if we're not in public," Severus said as he bent down to where he was level with his daughter.

"Thanks Dad," Janie said as she hugged him.

"I do wish to speak with you sometime tomorrow," he said as he returned the hug.

"Alright."

"Goodnight Janie," the Potion's Master said as he stood up.

"Goodnight Dad," Janie said as she started to walk towards Gryffindor tower; a pair of twinkling blue eyes following them both.

--

Later that night had again found Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall discussing the day's events over tea.

"You should have seen her, Albus. She was just about ready to rip anybody's head off if they insulted Severus. Poor Mr. Brushour just happened to be the one to prove it to everyone."

Dumbledore's eyes seemed like two blue stars.

"Does Severus know why his daughter attacked Mr. Brushour?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Ah, I see. Minerva, you should tell him tomorrow during breakfast. After all, we don't want him to yell at his daughter without him knowing the true reason behind it."

"You really think Severus will yell at Janie?"

"Not when he finds out why she did it. Personally, I think he'll be too shocked to say anything intelligible."

"Do you want me to tell him the whole story?"

"No, I think he should find out that on his own."

"Should we tell Ms. Granger," Minerva asked.

"No; leave that up to Severus. That way, he'll have to talk to her."

"Do you think he will?"

"Minerva, you have known Severus for years and I'm quite shocked that you wouldn't know what he would do."

"Albus, you're crazy ideas affect everyone differently. If Severus catches wind of what you are trying to do, I'm taking the innocent way out. There is no way I'm going to get caught in his aim of fire."

"It'll work out Minerva, trust me. Anyways, I don't think that he will tell Ms. Granger, unless she is in the castle, which she will be in very soon."

"What are you talking about, Albus?"

"I'm about to make Ms. Granger an offer that she won't be able to refuse," he said as he took out a quill and parchment.

"Go on."

"I think it's about time that our old History of Magic Professor realized he was a ghost. If my memory serves me correctly, and I'm sure it does...wasn't your niece sorted into Ravenclaw this year?"

"Yes..."

"Good, because I have a plan."

--

The Golden Trio and Ginny were now safely at Hermione's house. Ginny had no idea what was going on and Ron...well, Ron was muttering certain phrases under his breath among other things.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked. "Why is Ron so mad?"

"Umm Ginny...I think you may want to sit down."

"Oh no, what's going on?" She asked as she sat down next to Ron, who had just ungracefully plopped himself down on the couch. Ginny looked over towards Harry, who was leaning against the wall and shrugged.

"I need to tell you something really, really important."

"Is it true?" Ron asked looking up. "Was everything you said back there true?" He asked, his voice slightly raising as each word was spoken.

Hermione sighed, "Yes Ron, it's all true."

Ron stood up at this point and turned to point at Harry. "And he _knew_? He knew before _me_?" Ron's voice had now raised considerably. "He knew who Janie's father really was, this _whole_ time?"

"No Ron, I just found out."

"And does Ginny know too?" Ron seethed.

"Know what?" Ginny asked.

"Janie is Snape's kid!" Ron snarled at his sister. "Why Snape 'Mione? Why? You could have had any person in the world, and you chose that git? Why in Merlin's name made you want to have a kid with _him_?" Ron sat back down on the couch, his face three shades darker than his hair. "You chose him...over me? Why the hell did you snub me for him?"

"Ron," Harry said. "Calm down and stop yelling, please."

"You knew and you didn't tell me? We're supposed to be BEST FRIENDS Harry! You do know what that means, right? It means that you're supposed to trust each other and tell each other things!"

"Ron, Hermione had her reasons for not telling anybody," Harry said, walking towards his angry friend.

"Harry, she lied to us for eleven years!"

"She really didn't lie Ron...we never really asked."

"But she never told us!"

"She had reasons not to mate; she doesn't have to tell us everything."

"But she had Snape's kid! Janie is Snape's daughter!"

"And that shouldn't change anything," Hermione said, her temper rising. "She's still the same person that she was a month ago; she still hasn't changed Ronald."

"Yes, she has. She's Snape's daughter for crying out loud!" Ron bellowed.

Hermione walked up to Ron and slapped him hard across the face.

"She's is _no_ different than a month ago," Hermione said in a low, dangerous voice. "How _dare _you say anything like that."

Ron was now rubbing the red spot on his cheek where Hermione's palm had contacted only moments before.

"Let's go Ginny; we're leaving."

"I'm not going anywhere; you wouldn't even let Hermione talk. All you did was shoot off your loud mouth."

Ron stood looking confused for a second, before moving towards the door.

"Fine, you can stay in this traitor's house," and with that said, Ron slammed the door and a loud 'pop' was heard.

"So 'Mione, what were you saying?" The younger witch asked.

Nearly forty-five minutes later, Hermione was done explaining the whole situation to Ginny, who in-turn was slightly embarrassed that she had thought Harry was Janie's father all along.

"I'm sorry about Ron, Hermione; I really am. I don't think that he can control his anger very well anymore. And you're absolutely right; Janie isn't any different. When I go back to the Burrow, I'm going to have a long talk with Ron, on several things."

"Thanks Gin; I really appreciate it: Hermione said as she watched Harry move into the kitchen and heard the fridge open; she rolled her eyes.

"Anytime Hermione."

"Oh, and Ginny?"

"Yes?"

"Let Harry take you out for dinner this weekend, alright?"

Ginny gasped, "Oh my God! Is he upset for me thinking that Janie is his daughter?"

"I don't think so."

"Oh good; I thought he'd wouldn't want to take me out after everything you said."

"Don't worry about it; he'll ask you out again this weekend."

"How do you know?"

"I don't, but if he doesn't, I'll remind him by Friday."

--

Snape was sitting at the Head Table for breakfast the next morning, pondering every reason on why in the name of Merlin his daughter would attack another student. He was brought back to the present, when Professor McGonagall sat next to him and started to talk to him.

"Good morning, Severus," she said cheerfully, grabbing a piece of toast and spreading jam on it.

The Potion's Professor grumbled in return.

"Some night last night, I must say," she said as she took a bite of her toast.

"Don't even start, Minerva."

"But Severus, don't you want to know _why_ your daughter broke Damien Brushour's nose?"

"What, did someone make a comment about the house she was put into, or did someone say something against Mr. Potter?"

"Are you _that _dense, Severus? Your daughter nearly got expelled defending _you_."

"What?"

"Apparently, a group of seventh years in the common room, were telling Janie about all of those fabulous nicknames of yours."

Severus groaned, looking down at his plate.

"They also said a few other things about you and Ms. Granger."

"What did they say?" He asked, his attention once again, turning to his colleague.

"She didn't go into exact detail except for the fact that she didn't tell them who her mother was. Sorry Severus, but you're going to have to find the rest out on your own," she smiled.

"Does Ms. Granger know?"

"That is up for you to decide."

He scowled at Minerva. "What are you up too?"

"What makes you think that?" She asked, looking slightly offended.

"Oh pleas, Minerva. Ms. Granger-"

"Hermione, Severus."

"Yes, well, she was one of your favorite students, surely you would have written her about what her daughter did."

"She's _your_ daughter too, Severus. This is a decision that you have to make; it _is_ your family."

Snape looked absolutely dumbstruck. "Family?"

"Yes, you heard me, family. No matter how much you'll deny it, you have a family. You can tell yourself anything you want, but they'll always be there. Albus agrees with me."

_Oh no, she's bringing in that old coot_, Severus thought to himself, while rolling his eyes.

"Severus, Minerva is right. What you have is something special, something that will last a lifetime."

"I never said that I didn't have a family, Albus-"

"Ah, but you never said that you did either," Albus replied, his eyes twinkling. "Oh, look who just walked in," the Headmaster said while motioning to Janie and the twins. "Severus, don't you have to speak with your daughter?"

"Can't you let her eat first?" Severus said.

"Yes, I suppose. But, you should probably tell her, so she doesn't make any plans before her first class."

Snape grumbled something and got up from his chair. As he pushed it in and starting walking towards the Gryffindor table, he heard Dumbledore speak again.

"You know Severus, she will need a family one day, both of them."

--

Janie, Matt, and Lyss made their way into the Great Hall, after Janie had finished telling them everything that had happened the previous night.

They were now discussing their schedules, which they found on their bedside table when they woke up.

"Awesome," Matt said looking at his schedule. "We have flying lessons first thing tomorrow!"

"And potion's as the last class!" Janie said smiling.

"Speaking of potions, Janie, your father is coming over here."

"Uh-oh; I hope my Mum didn't find out about what happened last night."

"Why?"

"Because-"

"And why wouldn't you want your mother to find out?"

Janie spun around to see her father standing behind her; his trademark eyebrow raised.

"Good morning, Sir. Well, for one thing, she'd be really upset with me and I really don't want to be near her when she finds out. Besides, she'd go and tell Ron and Harry how she 'couldn't believe her daughter would do such a thing'. Then, Ron would say that I 'should have kicked him where the sun don't shine'. Then, she'd get mad all over again and start lecturing Ron on how to not tell me things like that."

"Ah yes, Weasley always did have a sense of humor," he drawled. "Well anyways, I would like to see you in my office when you're done with breakfast."

"Alright."

Fifteen minutes later, Janie was standing outside of her father's office door and knocked.

_I just hope my Mum isn't on the other side_, Janie thought to herself.

After Janie had heard an 'enter,' she walked into the room, finding her father sitting behind his desk. As she made her way over to the designated chair, her glance was darting all around the room.

"You don't have to worry; your mother's not in here."

Janie breathed a sigh of relief. "Did you tell her?"

"Not until I fund out the reason for your actions last night; take a seat," Severus said, pointing towards the empty chair.

"So," he drawled. "Care to explain what happened in the Gryffindor common room? When I entered, you practically lunged at a seventh year."

Janie blushed, "Well, he wasn't saying very nice things."

At her father's questioning glance, Janie sighed and started to tell her father everything that had happened, starting when Sam had come up to her.

Severus was quiet for several moments after his daughter finished; he couldn't believe that somebody would stick up for him like that. He also couldn't believe the way that the Gryffindor boy talked about him and Hermione. Yes, he would definitely have to persuade Filch to give that boy many, many detentions, seeing as Dumbledore still hasn't let him assign any. No doubt that Filch would happily oblige to having someone to help him clean up the castle.

"Umm Dad, are you alright?" Janie asked, since he was still quiet.

"I'm just shocked that you stood up to _and_ attacked a seventh year, unleashed an incredible amount of power for someone your age and had the audacity to provoke him even farther. Please, don't ever do that again."

Even though Severus was a little upset with his daughter, he was filled with pride. His daughter had punched out a seventh year and had the guts to do it. First years hardly ever talk to the older students, and here, she marched right up to them. He couldn't believe he found himself thinking that maybe Gryffindor was the right choice after all.

"Don't worry, it won't," Janie tried assuring him.

He raised an eyebrow, "Promise?"

"I can't promise anything."

"Janie...," he said sternly.

"Alright; I promise I won't punch another student in the face."

Well, that was good enough for Snape.

"Good."

"Are you going to tell Mum?"

"Why are you so concerned with her knowing?"

"Because it will greatly disappoint her for one thing, and she might even freak out and kill me."

"Surely she won't get _that_ mad..."

"You should have seen her when I decided to trick my friend Timmy into eating a mud pie filled with worms. She wouldn't have known though, but his mother called...and it didn't turn out too well. Then, when I decided to bring home a squirrel from the park-"

"Yes, your mother did say you had a knack for bringing home strange animals."

"Yes, well...the squirrel had gotten loose in the house and let's just say that I learned that day that my mother has a very extensive vocabulary."

Severus seemed greatly amused by this.

"And I felt really bad for Harry, because while she was muttering spells and curses at the squirrel, one went awry and she accidentally lit Harry's hair on fire...just like she did to your robe during her first year."

"She's the one that lit my robes on fire?" Was all Snape could get out of his mouth.

"Opps, I wasn't supposed to tell you that."

"Really now?" He asked, his eyebrow raised once again.

"Well, my mom didn't want me telling on her, but Harry and Ron thought it was hilarious."

"I bet they did. Is there anything else you want to tell me?" He asked, arms crossed.

"Well, I don't think she'll mind..."

"Oh, please do go on."

"Alright," Janie said happily. "She was the one who figured out your potion's challenge, before Harry could get to the Sorcerer's Stone. And then, in her second year...whoops."

"Went to far?"

"I don't think she really wants to tell me you what she did then."

"In her second year," Severus said. "She managed to correctly brew the Polyjuice Potion and turn herself into a cat."

"How did you-"

"There were several missing ingredients in my private stores that are only used in that potion."

"Oh..."

"How's Hogwarts so far?" Snape asked, clearly trying to change the subject of what Hermione did at Hogwarts, for fear of what she did during her third year (he really didn't want to know).

"Alright so far, except last night of, of course."

"That's good."

"Yeah...my friends are really nice. Did you know that Matt thought you were a vampire? He was crushed when I said that you weren't, because he was hoping that I was one, so he could be friends with one. It was really quite silly, actually," Janie said as the warning bell rang to tell the students to get their buts to class.

"You'd better get going Janie," Severus said.

"Why? My first class is double potions today."

"Don't you want to sit next to your friends?"

"Yes," Janie said as she got up from her chair.

"Don't be late," Severus said with a smile (too bad Dumbledore didn't see this- McGonagall might have had a heart attack if she did).

"Don't worry, I _promise_ I won't be late," Janie returned with a smile.

"Good."

"Oh and Dad?"

"Yes?"

"I think that the sorting hat needs whatever brains it has checked out."

"why?"

"Because it wanted to put me into Ravenclaw."

"But it didn't."

"I asked it not too."

"You did?"

"Yeah. I told it that I wanted to be in either Slytherin or Gryffindor, and it listened. I don't think a hat should put everybody where they _want _to go. I mean, my Uncle Harry was going to be put into Slytherin, but he said that he didn't want to go there," Janie said as she slipped out the door, leaving a slightly stunned Potion's Master behind.

--

Classes passed in a blur for Janie; it had all went by so quickly. She had been the first one done with her potion (which made Severus quite proud), the first one to successfully levitate a feather (the rest of the class couldn't even get their wands to "swish and flick" right, making the small Professor impressed by Janie's talents), and in Transfiguration, she had successfully paid attention, while the rest of class fell asleep as soon as McGonagall had finished with all her transfigurations. Perhaps the reason that she didn't fall asleep, was because every time someone did fall asleep, their Professor would transfigure their already done homework into birds and let them fly around the classroom (Matt woke up when one pooped on his head).

Defense Against the Dark Arts was alright; Professor Lupin just explained to them what they would be doing up to the winter holidays. The only class that Janie found herself doodling in was History of Magic, but that only was until one of the Ravenclaws did something that Professor Binns didn't like. Whatever she did, he got really angry, and tried to slam his fist against his desk, but it went right through it. Needless to say, he looked utterly shocked. He let the class study for the rest of the period while he closely examined his hand as he kept putting it through his desk and taking it back out. Needless to say, everybody thought he was weird.

The while Great Hall was busy eating dinner when Professor Binns came flying through the doors, closely followed by Dumbledore.

"I QUIT! Dumbledore, you old coot! You knew I was a ghost and you neglected to tell me?"

"We all assumed you knew."

"And why would you think that?"

"Well, my friend, you float along the corridors for one thing, and you sleep walk through walls. Let's not get into the numerous date offers that the Ravenclaw ghost has given you."  
"She has not given me any date offers."

"Mmm-hmm."

"You can say all that you want Dumbledore, but I quit! I have better things to be doing with my afterlife that to teach children who don't even bother to pay attention."

"Gee, I wonder why," Janie whispered in Lyss' ear. "If our first class is anything like how the rest of the classes are going to be, I'd personally throw a book at his head so he'd realize he was a ghost."

A few unkind words were said in reference to all the students from the loony professor, which left most of the students gaping at the transparent man. When he was finished, the now ex-Professor flew through the ceiling and the whole hall burst out in pandemonium.

"May I please have your attention?" Dumbledore's voice boomed through the hall, having the effect of a plug being pulled out of the wall on a playing stereo.

"Thank you. Now, seeing as of recent events are- all History of Magic classes are cancelled until Monday."

An explosion of excitement sped down the rows of students as Dumbledore sat back down at the Head Table. McGonagall turned around to talk to him, but Dumbledore cut her off by holding up his hand.

"I think it is about time to hire a new professor, don't you, Minerva?" Dumbledore said, with his eyes twinkling.

"Indeed it is, Albus," McGonagall replied with a smile.

**A/N: I don't know if this will clear anything up, but this chapter was written under the assumption that Dumbledore and McGonagall have _no_ idea what happened between Severus and Hermione in the Hospital Wing. Also, I wrote the ending part of the chapter under the circumstance that Professor Binns had no idea he was a ghost. Alright, so anyways, again, this chapter should have been out Friday, but I kind of got into trouble, but no worries. Next chapter should prove to be interesting, with Harry popping up at Hogwarts and a little incident involving Harry, Janie, and Peeves plotting something...wouldn't want to give too much away now, would I :o). Well, thanks to all those who have read and reviewed, it really keeps me going, and I thank everybody for that. I'm still getting around to replying, so don't worry. Thanks again!**


	15. Amazement and Pranks

**Disclaimer: As always, I don't own any of these characters, they are all J.K. Rowling's. To add to the things that I don't do, I don't make any money off of this, so nobody has to worry.**

**So, here's the next chapter, I hope it's not too long. Sorry about the delay; it would have been out on Saturday, but this wonderful website here wouldn't take it. But anywyas, here's the next chapter!**

---

_Dear Ms. Granger,_

_We are sad to announce the departure of Professor Binns from out family here at Hogwarts. Due to his sudden leave, we are currently left without a Professor for all the History of Magic classes, forcing us to postpone the classes until a later date. Ms. Granger, it would be of great pleasure if you would take the honor and become our new History of Magic Professor. You are more than qualified to teach any class we have here at Hogwarts; your test scores are the highest the school has seen in a very long time. It also helps immensely that you are probably one of the only students who ever paid attention to our dear Professor Binns. Please send your reply as quickly as possible. We can't wait until you join out family here at Hogwarts._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore,_

_Headmaster of Hogwarts_

This was the letter that Hermione found on her kitchen table when she woke up. It was also the very same letter that she was staring at open-mouthed. It only took her a minute to snap back to reality and to grab a parchment and quill. Her only thought was that Dumbledore seemed so sure that she was going to take the job, and he was right.

_Professor Dumbledore,_

_I would be honored to take over the post of History of Magic. Thank you for giving me this opportunity._

_Sincerely,_

_Hermione Granger_

Hermione quickly rolled and sealed the parchment, and sent it off with Tailion.

_How is it that he's always right? He knows that I won't pass up an opportunity to see Janie or go to Hogwarts again_, Hermione thought as she made her morning tea, until she heard a knock at the door and reluctantly went to open it.

"Morning Hermione!" Harry said cheerfully.

"Morning Harry," she grumbled and moved to let him through the doorway.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Not that I don't love you, but don't you spend _any _time at home?" Hermione asked.

"Er, what?"

"Not to be rude or anything, but you're over hear almost every morning."

He chuckled, "Sorry Hermione, but I have to tell you something."

"What, that you've decided to move into my house?"

"No, but that can be arranged. Hey, what if Ron moved in too? We'd have the old trio back together!"

"As nice as that does sound Harry, but I have other plans. What was it that you wanted to tell me?"

"Ginny agreed to go out with me tomorrow night!"

_Good_, Hermione thought. _Now, I don't have to talk to him about it_.

"That's wonderful Harry!"

"I know; I asked her last night. I figured that since she knows that Snape is Janie's father, she'll agree to go out with me."

_Oh good, he's figured that part out by himself too; this certainly makes my job much easier_.

"Hey, what's that?" Harry asked pointing at the envelope on the table, the Hogwarts Crest visible. "Janie's not in trouble, is she?"

"I should hope not; the letters for me."

"For what?"

"Oh nothing really; it's just offering me a position as the new History of Magic Professor," Hermione said casually.

"Really? That's wonderful 'Mione!" He said, hugging his best friend. "You're taking it, right?"

"Of course; how can I refuse?"

"That's wonderful! Hey, now you'll be a lot closer to Janie," he said, his face suddenly supporting a wide, mischievous grin. "_And_, you'll be a lot closer to a certain Potion's Master."

"Harry; that's not funny!" she said as she smacked him with a packet of parchment, because he started to laugh at her shocked expression.

"It's true though, you're going to be colleagues now. You know, Janie's going to be really happy having both of her parents as Professors."

"You think so? I think I would have died if both my parents came and taught at my muggle school."

"Don't worry, she will be; she'll get to see the both of you everyday. How many kids get that when they're at a school in another country?"

"You have a point-"

"I know I do. You can even ask Dumbledore for a potion's lab, like Snape's."

"I'll have to ask him that."

"Or...you can share one with him..."

"Harry, will you cut it out? It's not like that-"

"Yet," Harry replied before Hermione could finish her sentence, causing her to blush.

"Just drop it; how's Ron?"

"Ginny said that she would talk to him later today."

"I just hope he doesn't do anything irrational," Hermione said, worry clearly evident in her voice.

"I'm sure he won't."

"Some how Harry, I don't think that he's had his full say in this yet."

"Don't worry," Harry tried reassuring. "It's just Ron, you know how he gets."

"Yeah, I know," she sighed.

---

"Yes! Flying lessons first thing this morning," Matt exclaimed.

"With the Slytherins," Lyss added, earning a look from Janie.  
"Oh, right...sorry Janie," Lyss apologized.

"They can't be as bad as you think they are. I mean, look at my dad- sure he's tough, but he's nice when you get to know him better."

"What makes you think that Professor Snape will be as nice to us as he is to you? I mean, we're students after all," Lyss said.

"_And_, you're my friends, which _also _means that he'll be around you guys more too."

"Do we have a choice?" Matt joked.

"No," Janie said smiling.

Ten minutes to nine found the trio walking out towards a field next to the castle, which was already filled with noisy students and broomsticks. A few of the students were unsuccessfully trying to pry to broomsticks off the ground, while the surrounding students laughed at them.

Finally, at nine o'clock, Madam Hooch came out and ordered each of the houses to find a broomstick and stand by it. When everybody was impatiently waiting for the class to begin, Madam Hooch waved her wand and took all of the charms off the broomsticks, so that they would able to be picked up.

"Welcome everybody to your first flying lesson. Now, flying is a _privilege_. If you do not follow the rules, then it will be _taken away_. Do I make myself clear?"

Everybody nodded.

"Good. Now, hold your hand over your broomstick and say 'up'. Now remember, you have to say it with feeling, or other words, it won't respond to you."

Broomsticks all over could be seen squirming on the ground. Janie held her hand over the broomstick and said the command. To her surprise, it flew right up into her hand. Janie smirked when she looked around and saw that the only other people with broomsticks in their hands were Matt (after his second try), and Scott Narls, a blonde Slytherin boy.

Five minutes later, everybody else had their brooms in their hands. Janie found it amusing that whenever Madam Hooch turned her back, several students bent down and snatched up their broomsticks.

"Alright class, now that everybody has finally gotten their broomsticks up in the air, mount them as so," the hawk-like woman said as she demonstrated what they had to do. "Then, kick of the ground hard, and hover for a minute. If I give you an 'okay,' then you may hover higher. If everything goes as planned, there might be some free time at the end of class."

Janie, Matt, and two other Slytherins were the first ones to get an 'okay'. Having nothing better to do, Janie and Matt made bets on who would be the next one allowed to hover higher. When Lyss had finally joined them, almost the whole class was up in the air.

"Alright class," came the voice of Madam Hooch several minutes later. "You now have the next twenty minutes for free time. I do NOT want to see any Quidditch playing, rough-housing with the brooms, and racing."

A few minutes passed with the students just talking, until they heard a shriek.

"My eye!"

"MADAM HOOCH! HELP! JESSICA'S EYE IS SWOLLEN SHUT!"

"I can't see!" The blonde girl shrieked.

"What happened?" The flying instructor asked, as she rushed to a group of Slytherin girls.

"Well...er...she, um..."

"Spit it out already! I haven't got all day," the Madam snapped.

"She hit the tree."

"Madam Hooch, I can't see!" Jessica wailed.

"Yes dear, I know. We've got to get you to the Hospital Wing."

"Madam, she can't see; how are you going to get her to the Hospital Wing?" Her friend Patrice asked.

"Ms. Aaron, please stop your complaining and open your _other_ eye and look."

Jessica did as she was told, and was quite shocked that she actually could see out of one of her eyes.

"See, that's better. How did you hit the tree anyways?"

"She was looking at one of the Slytherin boys and hit the tree," Patrice chirped up.

"What is going on out here?" A very worried looking McGonagall said as she came running out of the castle, another figure stopping in the castle's archway.

"It sounds like somebody out here is screaming bloody murder inside the castle."

"It's oozing yellow now!" Patrice shrieked as she pointed at Jessica's eye.

"Calm down Ms. Lumbard! Ms. Aaron merely just flew into a nest of paperfluber worms."

"EW! I have paperflu-whatever in my eye?"

"Madam Pomfrey will be able to sort it all out, don't worry."

"Minerva," Madam Hooch asked. "Will you be able to take her down to her?"

"No, I have a class. Don't worry though; take her down and I'll get somebody else to watch the remainder of your class."

By now, the rest of the class had lost interest in the shrieking girls and had turned onto other, more interesting things.

"Good, since she's going," Matt said. "We'll be able to have a race."

"Matthew!" Lyss exclaimed. "You heard what Madam Hooch said, no racing!"

"But she's leaving now- uh-oh."

"What?" Janie asked.

"We'll never get to race now?"  
"Why?"

"Because McGonagall just sent out Professor Snape to watch the class."

"What?" Janie asked as she looked down at the field. Sure enough, there was her father, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else.

"Maybe Hooch didn't tell him," Matt suggested.

"She probably didn't," Janie agreed.

"Well then," Lyss said. "Who are you going to race then?"

"Hold on a sec.-" Matt said as he looked around and spotted his targets. "Avery, McClellan, and Hamelton; come here!" Matt yelled, causing Snape to look up and scowl.

When the three had come over, Matt whispered his plans to race and they all hastily agreed. When Snape turned his back, Matt pointed to where they would race to and back, while the rest of the competitors lined up in a line. Just as Matt was going to start counting down, they were interrupted by a Slytherin.

"You're racing? I'm going to tell Professor Snape, then you'll be in trouble. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"I get to race."

Matt looked from Professor Snape to the boy, and then back to their Potion's Professor, "Fine."

The boy went to take his place in line, when he suddenly stopped. "Carter, you're not going to let a girl race, are you?"

"So what if I do? She's had a broomstick since before she even came to Hogwarts, _and _she hangs out with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley."

"Alright then," he said and turned towards Janie. "Don't cry when you lose Snape."

"Yeah, I'll try not too," she said sarcastically.

"Fine, everybody ready? Three...two-"

Before Matt got to one, Scott broke from the line and started before anybody else, closely followed by Janie.

"Hey!" Matt yelled, getting the attention of many others, including Professor Snape. "You're not supposed to go yet; haven't you ever heard of the word one before?"

Janie was now almost caught up to Scott, when Snape looked up at the two racing students. You could hardly tell who they were from the position he was standing at, but he still thought that the second flyer looked oddly familiar.

_Well_, Snape thought. _I can't take points off or assign detentions, so_...

Matt and the other Gryffindors were now so far behind the two, that they had to stop, because there would be no way of catching up with them now.

_But on the other hand, if one of them gets hurt, McGonagall will have my neck, especially if it's a Gryffindor_. _Wait a second, Janie's in this class_... Severus tried to find his daughter, and was utterly shocked to find out that she was the other student racing.

"Ms. Snape and Mr. Narls- stop fooling around!" Snape bellowed, but it was clear that neither of them had heard.

"Janie!" Matt yelled. "Professor Snape said to stop!"

Janie thought about stopping for a quick moment, but then decided that she wasn't going to let a boy beat her, never-less a Slytherin. After she decided to pretend not to hear Matt, she pushed her broomstick to go even faster, and was now neck-and-neck with Scott.

Scott quickly turned his head to see a very determined look on his competitor's face and got angry that the girl was extremely close to passing him up. He turned his broom upwards to try and rid the close girl, but he quickly found out that it was a bad moved, because he was loosing valuable speed and Janie had passed him.

As they reached the designated tower, Janie began to turn around the tower, but Scott reached out and grabbed the back of her broomstick.

"Oh my God, Matty! Did you see that?" Lyss said and then suddenly gasped as Janie disappeared behind the tower.

The watching Gryffindors weren't the only ones worried, Severus was regretting that he didn't do anything before to stop them.

"Let's see you get out of that one, Snape," the boy said as he laughed.

Janie's broomstick tilted to one side as she sharply turned. If she didn't have such a good grip on her broom, she would have fallen off, but instead she came around the tower, rolling in the air several times on her broom.

"Nice try, Narls!" Janie yelled as she passed him up, and at the same time, gaining a vast amount of speed.

Scott looked dazed for several seconds, until he started to gain speed too, and also tried to bump into Janie. Seeing this, she sharply turned her broom towards the ground, hoping he wouldn't follow- she was wrong. Seeing that her pursuer wasn't going to give up. she straightened her path of travel and noticed how close she really was to the finish line, because she could hear student's laughter. She could also now hear her friend's warnings and her father yelling at them to get off their brooms.

What Janie didn't realize however, was how angry Scott Narls was that a girl was beating him on a broomstick. For fear of actually being beaten by a girl, and a Gryffindor, Scott pulled out his wand and aimed it at Janie.

"MR. NARLS!" Snape bellowed. "PUT YOUR WAND AWAY!"

As the worried Professor whipped out his own wand, a ray of purple light came straight out of Scott's wand and was headed right at Janie. Luckily, Janie heard her father's booming voice and turned around to see a bright ray of light headed right towards her.

"Janie, watch out!" Matt and Lyss yelled at the same time.

There was hardly any time for Janie to move, so she laid down and clung to her broomstick. Just as the ray was about to hit her back, she flipped the broom upside down, earning many cheers from the Gryffindors as she passed the finish line.

"You did it Janie!"

"You won!"

"Yeah, you beat Scott's-"

"That was just luck," one of Scott's friends said as they landed on the ground.

"HA!" Matt said. "That was talent, something you obviously don't have if you can't recognize it."

This statement earned many glares from the Slytherins, except Scott, who was remaining strangely quiet.

"Ms. Snape, Mr. Narls, may I please have a word with the two of you?"

Scott looked from Janie to Snape and followed them both to a corridor inside the castle.

"Did or did not Madam Hooch say no racing?"

"Sir," Janie spoke up. "It was kind of hard to hear her, when we were so high up in the air."

Scott nodded.

"Did you not hear me when I yelled at you to stop, several times?"

They both shook their heads.

"How did all the other students hear me, except you two?"

"We were the only ones flying at the moment, Professor," Scott finally said.

"Mr. Narls, if you were flying, then why was there a need for a wand?"

"I...um..."

"Just what I thought. Mr. Narls, you _never_ point or wand at a student to harm them."

"Yes Sir," the boy said, as he hung his head down, to avoid getting into more trouble.

"Mr. Narls, after class you are to go straight to the Headmaster's office; I don't have time at the moment to see to your discipline."

"But-" Scott said as he looked at Janie. "Professor, she-"

"She did not pull out her wand out and fire a hex at another student. You do realize that if it had hit her, she would have fallen off the broom, and then you'd be in a _lot _more trouble than you already are," he said as the bell rang.

"Oh, and Ms. Snape?"

Janie looked at her father in confirmation.

"Stay after class today."

"Yes, Sir," she said as she left the corridor and went to retrieve her books.

---

Janie was now sitting in Charms, her second-to-last class of the day, remembering all the conversations she had had with Matt and Lyss about their flying lessons this morning. They both kept telling her how cool the race was and how Scott looked when she flipped and started flying upside down, which was really getting on her nerves, because they wouldn't shut up. To get them to shut up, she'd tell them about the things that Harry and Ron had taught her on a broomstick, and about all the times she set up a practice field of pillows in her own room. This usually shut them up, until Janie brought up how quiet Scott was afterwards, and they started all over again. The bell rang and Janie finally found herself on the way to Potions.

In Potions, they were assigned one of the more complicated ones than they would all year, but that didn't stop Janie from being the first one done again. After all, she had brewed the potion at least five times at home with her mother. Snape had, once again, found himself proud of his daughter's potion-making, and Janie found herself once again, with more than an excess amount of time.

Having all this time left over, Janie began wondering if her father would reprimand her for not stopping during the race. Tired of thinking about all the possibilities she could be in trouble before, she pulled out the potion book she bought at the book store, and started to read.

When the class had finally ended, Janie waited until everybody had left, to approach her father's desk. To her surprise, he got up and lead her through a door to his office, and then through a hidden door into his quarters, where Janie was told to leave her things.

"Dad, are we going somewhere?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Outside."

"Ooo, it's a beautiful day outside, especially for it being September," Janie said as she took her Gryffindor robes off.

"Indeed it is."

"Where do you want me to put these?" She asked as her father took them from her and hung them up by the door.

"Thanks; wait a second..."

"What?"

"You're not actually going to wear that outside, are you?" She said, looking at all the black he was wearing.

"Why?"

"Because, it's way to warm outside to be wearing _that_."

"And what do you want me to wear?"

"How about that nice white shirt?"

"That has long sleeves."

"But it's a lot cooler than that coat that you're wearing. Besides, I'm not going to go out there and have my father die of heat exhaustion."

"I can always use a cooling charm, Janie."

"I don't care; take it off Dad. I know you have that white shirt on now, I can see it. You know, I really don't know how you can stand all those layers of clothes."

Sighing, Severus knew that he wouldn't win, so he took off his frock coat and the outer layer of black clothes, revealing a thin, long-sleeve, button-down, white shirt.

_If any students sees me, I'm dead_, Severus thought.

"Good, now I don't have to worry about you baking alive out there," Janie said, causing her father to emit a slight chuckle.

"Where are we going outside?"

"I thought maybe a walk around the lake?" Severus asked, earning an ear-to-ear grin from Janie.

---

"Ah, Ms. Granger, I'm so glad that you could make it today!" Dumbledore exclaimed as he clasped his hands together.

"It was no problem, Professor."

"Albus," Dumbledore corrected.

"Albus, if you don't mind me asking, why did Professor Binns suddenly quit?"

"Our old Professor had finally figured out that he was no longer among the living. He left quite abruptly, and rudely I must add."

"Wow."

"Yes; all the students were overjoyed when he left the school."

"I can only imagine," Hermione replied smiling.

"Yes, it was quite like when Hagrid arrived back from Azkaban, only about ten times louder. Now, enough about our former professor and onto how happy I am that you decided to become a Professor here."

"It's one of the things that I've always wanted to do," Hermione replied with a smile that lit the room.

"Ah, good. Now, your classes will begin Monday morning, here's your schedule," Dumbledore said, as he handed Hermione a large package. "Don't worry," he chuckled when he saw her eyes widen. "The staff calendar until winter break is in there, along with everything that Professor Binns was teaching his classes. Alright, your quarters are near Gryffindor tower, by Professors Lupin and McGonagall's. The first Hogsmeade weekend is in October, so don't make any plans."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Did I leave anything else out?"

"Um, I don't think so, but can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Would it be too much to ask if I can add a personal lab to my rooms?"

"What kind of lab?"

"A potion's lab?"

"Like Severus'?"  
"Yes."

"Sure, but you can always ask him if he wouldn't mind adding on to his..."

"I wouldn't want to intrude..."

"Nonsense; I'm sure both Severus and Janie will be glad to have you here."

"You didn't tell them?" Hermione's eyes lit up.

"No, I'm afraid it just slipped my mind," he said.

"Thank you, Albus."

"Yes, I figured that you would like to tell them."

"And I must say Hermione, it is a pleasure to have Janie here at Hogwarts."

"Excuse me?"

"Yes; she will definitely be an excellent addition to the Gryffindor Quidditch team in the future."

"She's in Gryffindor?" Hermione's voice was full of excitement.

"Yes-"

"Wait...how do you know that she'll be a good Quidditch player; she doesn't even own a real broom."

"During her flying lesson this morning," Dumbledore said as he turned to look out his rather large window, his eyes twinkling like the night sky. "She had shown some amazing flying techniques and even won a race; I must admit that it was quite enjoyable to watch."

"She was racing, and she didn't get into any trouble?"

"Severus was down there-"

"And he didn't stop her?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"He tried, I assure you that, but Janie didn't hear him. Please go easy on him Hermione, he hasn't had a very enjoyable year so far."

"Oh no, what happened?"  
"Nothing serious; he just lost the privilege to take house points and to assign detentions."

"That's going to kill him."

"Yes, but I don't think that that has had such a negative effect on him, seeing as a greater force is pulling him in the opposite direction."

"Greater force? You don't mean Janie, do you?"

"See for yourself, Ms. Granger," Dumbledore said as he motioned out the window.

Hermione cautiously made her way towards the window that he was pointing out and froze.

"See?"

Hermione could only nod, while she silently watched her daughter walk around the lake with her father; it looked they were really enjoying themselves. Janie had just climbed a tree when his back was turned, and Severus, realizing she was gone, began to search frantically for her, when she jumped and landed right on his shoulders. To Hermione's surprise, he started to laugh and he was actually wearing...white.

"He's wearing white?"

"Ah yes, another positive outcome of having Janie here."

Hermione looked out the window again, to find that Severus had conjured up several pieces of bread for Janie to feed to the Giant Squid.

"Ms. Granger, what's wrong?" Dumbledore asked when he saw tears streaming down Hermione's cheeks.

"Nothing..."

He raised his eyebrow, the ever-lasting twinkle still present.

"It's just that they both look so happy together, and it could have happened sooner, if I had told him about it earlier."

"You had no way that you could have known that this would have happened."

"But I should have told him," she sobbed. "He should have known; I should have known better. This was the biggest mistake I have ever made...I should have told him; he probably hates me for not telling him..."

"There, there," Dumbledore said, hugging her to calm the balling witch down. "That was the past; look what you have in front of you. And if I know anything, which I do, Severus certainly does not hate you. Actually, I think he's at the opposite end of hate, far from it. You can even look at it that he is lucky that you told him about your daughter, because you very well could have kept it a secret. But now, look at what you have for the future. For one thing, you have a wonderful daughter and her father that is more than willing to make anything work for her...and you. I advise you that he might not show it right away, but it's there, and he will. And now, you have a job so that you'll be by the both of them."

Hermione had now calmed down to the point of only sniffling, her gaze returning to out the window.

Janie was now splashing around in the lake and Severus stood there with his arms crossed, shaking his head. She could see that Janie was trying to persuade him to do something, but he kept refusing. She watched as her daughter ducked underwater and pulled out her wand (she doubted that Severus saw it, because he wasn't standing high enough to see it).

When Janie came back up, she put on an annoyed face and grabbed onto her father's hand. He wasn't moving anywhere, until Janie yanked his hand, and he fell right into the water.

"You know Hermione, you can go and join them," Dumbledore suggested.

"I know, but I think I'm going to let them enjoy themselves."

"They would both be really happy if you did..."

"It's alright. Besides, now I know that he won't melt in the water, I'll surprise them one day and take them to a beach."

"I'd like to see that; please, send me pictures if you do," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"Don't worry, I'll even frame them for you," she said as she watched Janie splash her father, earning a splash back from him.

"You're really lucky, Ms. Granger."

"For what?"

"For having two such special people in your life, many people don't get the chance."

---

Severus and Janie had walked up to the castle when it was time for dinner. Thanks to a quick drying spell, Janie was able to go straight to dinner, and Snape's shirt was no longer transparent. Janie wasn't even at the Gryffindor table yet, when her friends had started firing off questions.

"Where did you go?"

"We were so worried!"

"Why were you gone so long?"

"What," Janie said. "I'm not allowed to spend any time with my father?" Janie asked.

"So _that's _where you went," Lyss said. "Hey, did you by chance go outside?"

"Why?"

"Because a sixth year said that Professor Snape had went outside to patrol the grounds," Lyss said. "It was rumored that he was in a cranky mood for having to supervise an extra class today."

"So of course, nobody in the whole school was caught dead anywhere near the entrance doors."

"Hey," Lyss said, knocking Janie's shoulders. "Did you hear that Dumbledore has already filled the spot for the History of Magic Professor?"

"He did?" Janie asked.

"Yeah," Matt said. "My brother told me that he saw a witch speak to the gargoyle outside his office about an appointment. Nick also said that she was cute..." Matt trailed off, causing Janie and Lyss to roll their eyes.

They talked about their classes for the day, when Matt started to complain about the potion that they had to brew in potions, when Janie suddenly gasped.

"Oh no..."

"What's the matter Janie," Lyss asked.

"I forgot to write my Mum," she said as she took a quill and parchment from Matt.

"Just say that you forgot," Matt suggested with a mouth full of food.

"She'll be upset..." Janie said as she started to write the letter, but stopped when she heard a familiar voice from behind.

"Now, that letter wouldn't be for me now, would it?" Hermione asked, causing Janie to whip around in her chair.

"Mum! What are you doing here?"

"What, no hello?"

"Sorry. Hi Mum, what brings you here to Hogwarts? Oh, and sorry that I didn't write you...I've been...busy."

"I see."

"Is there anything that you need to tell me, Janie?"

"I made Gryffindor!" Janie said, hoping that against all odds that her father didn't tell her mother about what happened two nights ago.

"Congratulations, Janie. Oh, and who are your friends?" She asked, motioning towards Matt and Lyss.

"Oh, this is Matt and Lyss. Matt and Lyss, this is my mother, Hermione Granger. Umm Mum, not to be rude or anything, but why are you here at Hogwarts?"

"Professor Dumbledore asked me to take over as the Professor for History of Magic," Hermione said as Janie and Lyss both looked at Matt, who had his mouth open, pieces of food falling out.

"Matthew," Lyss hissed. "Shut your mouth-you look like an electrocuted fish."

"Sor' hee'," Matt said as he quickly shut his mouth, hiding whatever mashed potato he had left.

"It's alright," Hermione said as he waved her wand, making the pieces of food instantly disappear.

"Well, I don't want to keep you from eating your dinner, Janie. I'd hug you, but I don't think you'll enjoy the embarrassment. Just ask Ron about the Howler that came in his second year. Well anyways, it was nice to meeting you, Matt and Lyss. Oh and Janie?"

"Yes?"

"Please stop by sometime tomorrow, alright?"

"Alright," Janie said as she watched her mother walk up to the Head Table and sit down next to another empty seat. If she was only watching a few moments earlier, she would have seen Dumbledore move the entire half of the table down a seat, so that the only empty chair would be available right next to a certain missing Potion's Master.

When Hermione was finally out of ear shot, Janie turned to Matt, " Eww Matt! I can't believe that you think my mother is hott!" Janie exclaimed.

"Well, I should hope not," came the voice of a passing Severus Snape, making Matt blush.

"I never said that!" He exclaimed, causing both girls to roll their eyes again.

The next morning found Janie up before everybody in her dormitory. Deciding to visit her mother, she got out of bed and got ready. When she was done, she walked into an almost empty common room at 7:15, when she realized that she had no idea where her mother's quarter were, and even if they were connected to her office yet. So instead of setting out in search of them, she decided to walk around the castle.

As she was making her way out of Gryffindor tower, she saw a figure that looked oddly familiar walking towards her. When she could finally make out who it was, a huge grin popped up on her face as she started to run towards him.

"Uncle Harry!" Janie exclaimed as she jumped into Harry's arms.

"Hey Jaz! Having a good time at Hogwarts?"

She nodded as he set her down.

"I see that you've made Gryffindor."

"Yep!"

"That's good."

"So, Uncle Harry, do you know where my mother is, by chance?"

"She had to go to Hogsmeade this morning."

"Oh. I would have asked my dad, but his quarters are at the other end of the castle. It's a big inconvenience, if you really think about it. Now, if there is only a way to get him to move up here..."

"I highly doubt that that is going to happen."

"Why?"

"Because Professor Snape is the Head of Slytherin, and he has to be down where the common room is, and that's in the dungeons."

"Oh..."

"But," Harry said, pausing for a dramatic effect. "We _can_ get your mother's quarters moved."

"We can?" Janie asked, now suddenly full of excitement.

"We can make her quarters inhabitable."

"That would be great, if only we knew _how_!"

Harry pondered back to his school years and thought about everything that the Weasley twins and Peeves had pulled off, that created a huge mess.

"Ah-ha! I've got it! Follow me," Harry said, leading Janie right into her mother's rooms.

"These are your mother's rooms-"

"How do you know where they are and I don't?"

"McGonagall asked me to help out with the Gryffindor Quidditch team before try-outs begin. Since I'm only staying for the weekend, and there are no more rooms available at Hogwarts, I have a cot set up in the living room. Wait right here," Harry said as he disappeared through a door for several minutes.

When he returned, he was holding three small, square boxes.

"What are those?" Janie asked curiously.

"Called a favor into Fred and George. I must say, they were more than willing to dump off a few of their devices, when I said that they were to annoy your father."

"You never answered my question, Harry."

"I remembered an old prank, from my fifth year. When you release the contents of the box, it turns everything into a swamp and when you try to get rid of it by the use of magic, the whole thing grows even worse."

"So, that's what you have there?"

"Yup," Harry replied brightly. "Three of them. What we need to do now is to find a distraction," Harry said as he pulled out a packet of parchment and muttered a phrase that Janie couldn't hear.

"Harry, when we turn her rooms into a mucky swamp, what will happen to all her things?"

"Don't worry, I'll place a charm on them, so that they won't get ruined. Perfect!" Harry said as he pointed at the map. "Stay here, I'm going to go and get Peeves; I'll be right back."

Harry wasn't even gone for ten minutes, when Professor Dumbledore rounded the corner and caught sight of Janie out in the corridor.

"Why Ms. Snape, it is a pleasure to see you out here this morning. Are you waiting for your mother?"

"Umm no, I'm waiting for," Janie stopped as she saw Peeves turn the corner, closely followed by Harry.

As soon as Janie saw him, she started to signal for him to stop, by pretending to cop off her head with her hand, but Harry didn't see.

"Who are you looking for, dear?" Dumbledore asked, completely ignoring Janie's obvious warnings.

"Ooo, Potty's going to be in trouble!" Peeves' voice echoed throughout the corridor, making Dumbledore turn around.

"Ah Mr. Potter, what do we have here?" Dumbledore asked as he picked up one of the boxes and examined it.

"Hmm...Peeves, there are several second years playing with Fanged Frisbees and other such items on the second floor; I'm sure they could use a good scare," Dumbledore said.

"Bye Potty!" There's more fun to be had that trying to get Professors greasy-bat and know-it-all annoyed with your mess," Peeves said as he flew through the nearest wall, making Dumbledore raise an eyebrow in Harry's direction.

"Annoying Professors Snape and Granger now, are we?"

"Well, erm...you see, I had to say something to get him to help. I highly doubt that he would have helped me if I said it were to make them happy."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes," Harry confessed.

"Ah, I see," Dumbledore said as he handed back the box. "Well, carry on now," he said as he started to walk down the hall, only to turn around. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger won't be back until past nine, and Professor Snape is currently brewing a potion that I asked him of," he said and disappeared behind the corner.

"Now, onto the plan," Harry said. "First, we set them up in three areas of her rooms. The, with the help of my map, we'll to be able to see when Hermione comes in, and will also be able to see what happens. When we set them off, I'm going to grab my invisibility cloak, so we can hide behind it."

Twenty minutes later, Harry and Janie had successfully turned Hermione's rather clean quarters, into a complete and utter mess. Seeing that the results were better than excepted, Harry and Janie high-fived each other.

Then, a quarter after nine, Hermione came strolling up the corridor, and the two hastily went under the cloak, while Harry cast a silencing charm on his cloak. Hewould be laterglad he did so, becauseHermione's actions would cause them both to find it to their advantage.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF BLOODY MERLIN?"

_Oh that's nice_, Harry thought. _Let the whole castle hear you_.

The duo watched in silence as Hermione tried to get inside her quarters, but it was useless. Then, just as they had predicted, Hermione pulled out her wand and started to fire charms at it, making the swamp grow bigger and bigger, causing Janie to snicker. The swamp was now flowing steadily out into the hallway, while Hermione was muttering certain things that made Harry's eyes grow wideand cover up Janie's ears until she was finished. The two jumped when they heard a loud growl and watched as Hermione literally jumped nearly two feet in the air and slam the door shut. When she leaned against the door, trying to catch her breath, they heard her yell,

"Oh...my...GOD! WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT?" She spluttered and slowly opened the door again, hearing another loud and angry growl, causing her to slam the door shut again, the sound echoing through the hallways.

By now, Harry and Janie were laughing hysterically on the floor, each holding their sides, when Dumbledore came up, closely followed by a very concerned-looking Severus Snape. Unfortunately for Harry, his foot was sticking out from under the cloak, and Dumbledore saw it. He bent down and grabbed the cloak, exposing a very loud laughing pair.

"I suppose it worked?" Dumbledore asked, causing Harry to immediately sober and sit up.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Professor," Harry said, while Janie burst out into another fit of giggles, causing Snape to glare at Harry.

"I swear, when I found out who did this..." Hermione trailed off as she finally noticed that she was no longer alone.

"Ms. Granger, whatever is the matter?" Dumbledore asked innocently.

"There's a bloody swamp in my room with an...an alligator!"

"Did you try to make it disappear?" Dumbledore asked, as he opened the door and poked his head in, hearing yet another growl.

"Yes, but it only made it- wait a minute! This is a Weasley item!" She fumed.

"The situation your rooms are in...it's not good."

_Well duh_, Hermione thought. _I _almost _got my head bitten off byan alligator_!

"I can see," she said in a very un-Hermione like matter.

"Well, can you fix it?"

"No."

"Excuse me?" She asked seriously.

"The only way to get the mess to disappear, is for it to disappear on its own. Judging by the size of the mess, I'd say that there were at least three of the swamps used, which each take at anywhere from a week to a month and a half to totally dissipate. Then, you used magic to try and clear it up, which can sometimes double the intensity, therefore doubling the amount of time it remains."

"Oh great," Hermione said.

During this time, Harry and Janie quietly slipped from the situation, with the help of the invisibility cloak.

"Looks like you're going to have to find a new place to stay Ms. Granger," Dumbledore said while looking straight at Severus. "I'm sorry to say that I can't move you to new quarters, because we currently do not have anymore available."

Seeing as neither could get the hint, Dumbledore started to speak again.

"My dear," he said, while putting his hand on Hermione's shoulder (which made Severus slightly jealous). "I think I have found an alternative," he said, turning to Severus, seeing it was his time to get a pat on the back.

"Severus, m' boy, you do still have that guest room in your quarters, don't you?" The sneaky Headmaster asked, his eyes bright enough to light up all the corridors of Hogwarts.

**A/N: So, here's the next chapter, and again, I hope it's not too long. Once I started writing, I couldn't bring myself to just cut it off before Harry and Janie's prank. I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, it's really appreciated, and of course, to all of you who have read this story so far. I'm on Spring Break this week, so I'll hopefully have some more time to write. Oh, and there will be some more information and explanations about Jessica Aaron, for those of you who are wondering.**


	16. The Start of Something New

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own any of these Harry Potter characters, except for maybe Janie's character, because the rest all belong to J.K. Rowling. And, as I said before, I'm making absolutely no money off of this.**

**I would like to thank Sianna for helping me out with this chapter. If it wasn't for her help, it wouldn't be as great. So, thank you!**

---

Fifteen minutes after Hermione's discovery, Harry, Hermione, and Severus were seated in front of Albus Dumbledore's desk.

"What?" Severus asked for what seemed like the tenth time since Dumbledore had started talking.

"Yes Severus, you heard me. We are very grateful for you allowing Ms. Granger to occupy your guest room until further notice, but this is only until the weekend it over."

"Absolutely not. Can't he stay with someone else?"

"No," Dumbledore said with that all-knowing twinkle of his.

"What about Lupin?"

"_Professor_ Lupin is in London now, and won't be returning until Sunday night."

"What about you?"

"Oh, Harry doesn't want to stay with an old man like me," Dumbledore replied with a smile.

"Well, what about Minerva?" Severus asked, getting quite desperate.

"Harry can't stay with Minerva, Severus, she's a woman!"

"Yes, but Ms. Granger is staying with me."

"That's different."

"But if she's staying with me, then Harry will be staying with her as well."

"Yes, but they're best friends; I'm sure they have had all their friends sleep over at one point or another."

"But-"

"Good, it's decided then; Severus, Ms. Granger will be staying with you from now on, and Mr. Potter will be staying until classes start on Monday. Now, please enjoy the rest of your day," Dumbledore said as the three started to leave.

"Fine," Severus mumbled, "but he's going to sleep on the couch."

"Oh, and Ms. Granger?"

"Yes?" She asked, turning around.

"I'll work on getting your belongings out, until then, another trip to Hogsmeade might be a wise idea."

"Thank you, Sir."

---

The rest of Saturday was spent with Hermione shopping, Severus grading papers (yes, he already signed those poor students homework, especially the Gryffindor seventh years), and the trio spent their time at the Quidditch pitch, watching practice.

Hermione had invited Severus to go shopping with her, but he had refused with the excuse of, "As much fun as that does sound, I don't want to sit in dressing rooms for hours. Besides, what if I say the wrong thing?" Hermione had huffed at this and marched out of the room.

She had also invited Harry, after Severus had refused, but he had Quidditch practice, and a similar excuse to that of Snape's. So now, Hermione was on her way to Hogwarts, alone, thinking about all the excuses that men could make up. At least she was going to meet Ginny up there in an hour.

Ginny and Hermione had talked about her date with Harry, and was pleased to note that everything had gone well.

When Hermione had finally arrived back at Hogwarts, it was already dark and dinner was over. When she walked into her new quarters, she was surprised to find Harry already there. He was sitting in an armchair by the fire, reading the paper and Severus was seated at one end of his couch, grading an essay.

"Hey Hermione," Harry greeted with a smile. "Janie was looking for you today."

"Hi Harry, Severus. Shoot, I forgot that I told her to speak with me today."

"About what," Harry asked.

"I forgot," she replied sheepishly.

"Must not have been too important then," Severus said while glancing at the clock above the fireplace. The glance turned into a stare and was then directed at Hermione. "Good God woman! Do you _always_ go shopping for this long?"

"Just wait until Christmas time, Professor," Harry said.

"I wasn't _that _bad."

"Janie and Ron were hiding from you in the dressing rooms and in the clothes' racks."

Hermione was silent for a few minutes.

"'Mione?"

Hermione sighed; "I just wish that he was still like that."

"Who, Ron?"

She nodded.

"Don't worry, he'll come around, you'll see," Harry said, as he came up behind Hermione and rested a hand on her shoulder. He quickly took it off, due to Snape glaring at him from across the room. To hide his embarrassment, Harry quickly took all of Hermione's bags and disappeared through a door.

When Harry came back out into the room, he inwardly smiled when he saw that Hermione and Snape were sitting on the same couch.

"Jeez Hermione, what do you have in those bags, bricks?" Harry asked, making Hermione blush.

"Well, I'm glad I didn't go today," Severus murmured while grading his paper, earning a smack, courtesy of Hermione Granger.

"You're brave Professor; I wouldn't even say that."

"Uh! You think that way too?" Hermione asked.

"Now, I never said that," Harry said, putting his hands up as in surrender.

"I'd never thought I'd see the day that Potter would give up to a woman."

"Uh-huh, Harry. You know, I didn't go shopping alone…Ginny went with me."

"What did she say?" He asked eagerly.

"Oh nothing," Hermione replied like she knew something.

"Oh, she said something, or you wouldn't have come back so happy. Actually, you usually come back complaining about your feet hurting."

"Well, it wasn't my fault that she got a little tipsy off of the wine."

"Then she _did _say something!"

"Nope," Hermione said, getting up.

"Where are you going?"

"Not that I don't enjoy how you two are in the same room together and aren't ripping each other's head's off, but I'm going to bed."

"You're just trying to avoid the conversation."

"So?" Hermione called as she disappeared into the guest room.

_Wait_, Harry thought. _How does she know where the guest rooms are, if nobody ever showed- oh…_"

"What's the matter Potter, it looks like you just swallowed a live fish."

"How does Hermione know where the guest room is?" Harry blurted out, before he could say an excuse.

"Because she just saw you drop all her bags off in there," Snape replied, while writing a rather rude comment in the corner of Damien Brushour's paper.

"Well, I think I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight Professor, and thanks for letting me stay," Harry replied, receiving only a grumble from the Potion's Master in reply.

Severus looked up from his paper when he realized that Harry had left the room. He got up and found him outside Hermione's door, with a sleeping bag under his arm. When Harry opened the door, he froze when he heard an unhappy voice from behind him.

"And _where_ do you think _you're_ going?"

"I…er…Hermione said that I could set up a cot in her room-"

"And I said that _you're_ sleeping out on the couch," he said shutting the door, grabbed Harry by the collar, and dragged him to the couch.

"You sleep out here," he said while throwing Harry onto the couch.

"You slept out here in her quarters, and you'll sleep out here in mine. And If I catch you _anywhere_ else when I wake up, you'll be a dead man."

"Yes, Professor," Harry replied like he was a helpless first year. He decided this was the best way to reply, without starting a fight and getting Hermione involved.

---

Hermione awoke early the next morning, only to find a very loud snoring Harry, sleeping very uncomfortably on the couch, causing Hermione to snicker at his appearance. She made her way into the small kitchenette and started to make herself coffee. When she was seated on one of the stools, she started to read over Professor Binns' lessons plans, when a very tired-looking Severus walked in.

"I swear, if someone doesn't shut that boy up…"

"Good morning to you too," Hermione replied, without looking up from her lesson plans.

"Is that coffee?" He asked, pointing towards the pot on the table.

"What does it look like?" She asked and got a grumble from him s he sat down across from her.

They say in silence for several minutes, when Snape broke the silence.

"What's going on between you and Mr. Weasley?" He asked, causing Hermione to look at him for the first time this morning.

"Nothing," she said, earning a raised eyebrow.

"Then why did you get quiet after the mention of his name last night?"

She sighed, "Ron overheard conversation that he wasn't supposed to hear, and of course overreacted."

"What was the conversation about?"

"He overheard Harry and I talking on platform 9 ¾ about Janie and-"

"Me?" He asked, taking a drink from his coffee.

"Yes."

"And how did he take it?"

"Let's just say that I slapped him in the face and he slammed the door on his way out."

"Sounds like fun," he said sarcastically.

Hermione hump-fed.

A few more minutes were spent in silence, until they heard a knocking at the door and Severus got up to answer it. On his way to it, Hermione heard him grumbling about "stuffing a sock in that boy's mouth." When he opened the door, he was shocked to find his daughter on the other side.

"Morning Dad!" She said brightly, as he let her in.

"Hey, what's Uncle Harry doing here?" She asked, while pointing t the drooling-boy-wonder on the couch.

"Just about to wake up," he said s he walked over to the couch and kicked it, causing Harry to jump in his sleep. "Get up Potter," He said, while putting emphasis on the first two words; Harry grumbled something and fell asleep.

"What's so funny?" He asked Janie, who was trying to hold in her laughter.

"That's not going to wake him up," she said, following her father into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Janie," Hermione said.

"Morning Mum…wait, what are you doing down here? Aren't your quarters upstairs, near Gryffindor tower?"

"Not anymore; they're down here now," she said, while Severus gave his daughter the 'I-know-you-were-behind-it-look,' causing Janie to put her finger in front of her lips.

"Oh okay, cool," Janie said, while putting on a smile. "Now when I come to find either one of you, I'll know exactly where to look. You know Mum, you wanted me to come and talk to you yesterday, but you never told me where to find you! Luckily, I ran into Uncle Harry and he told me that you went into Hogsmeade for the morning."

"Speaking of Harry, go and wake him up."

"Seriously?"

"Yes," Hermione said, as Janie ran through the door and into the living room.

"What's so special about waking him up?" Severus asked.

"You'll see," Hermione replied with an all-knowing smile.

When Janie was standing next to Harry, she spoke loudly, "Sorry Uncle Harry, but you have to wake up and stop you're drooling and excessively loud snoring. Yeah, that's gotta stop," she said as she jumped on Harry.

"Uncle Harry, time to WAKE UP!" Janie yelled as she started to jump on the couch, nearly missing Harry each time she did so.

"Wake up! Wake up, wake up, WAKE UP!" She said as she jumped, causing Harry to fall off of the couch, along with all the blankets, in panic to get away from all the motion on the couch.

When he was finally able to see straight again (after hitting his head on the table), he saw Janie lean over his face and yell, "GOOD MORNING, UNCLE HARRY! RISE AND SHINE!"

This caused Harry to cover his ears and groan loudly.

"Alright Jaz, I get it! I thought you said that you'd never do that again."

"Yeah, but you were snoring really loudly, and were in the process of creating a lake with your mouth. I was just trying to save you the embarrassment," Janie said innocently.

"Your mother told you to wake me up?"

"Yup," Janie replied, while running back into the small kitchen.

"I woke him up," she proudly announced to both her parents.

"I heard," Janie replied.

"I think the entire castle heard," Severus added.

"Everybody usually hears," Janie said. "Because it's the fastest way to wake him up, that's not on his own accord, of course. It's either that, or you can put bacon under his nose; they tend to have the same effect. We usually do the first thing though, because it's much more amusing. Harry hates it though."

"Janie," her mother asked. "Why did you come down here so early?"

"What, I need an excuse to visit my parents?" She asked, receiving a stern look from her mother. "I came down here to get my books that I left in here."

"You didn't do your homework yet?" Hermione asked.

"Umm, no…not really. I've been really busy lately. Don't worry though, I'll get it done Mum."

"Good."

"Dad, is everything still where I left it Friday?"

He nodded.

"Thanks. Well, I have to go and finish my homework now, I'll talk to everybody later," Janie said as she collected her things. "Oh, and Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Professor McGonagall wanted you in her office umm…," she said while looking at the clock, "about ten minutes ago," and then she quickly left.

Harry said a few choice words and hurriedly left the room, a few seconds after Janie had.

"Good," Hermione muttered, "a virtually Harry-free morning ahead of me."

Severus raised his eyebrows at this. "He came over often then?"

Hermione was slightly shocked that she had said that loud enough to hear, either that, or he had superior hearing.

"Almost every morning for the past two months. It has gotten to the point were I had to remind him that he actually does own a home."

"One's too clingy, one doesn't talk to you anymore, and the other is living with her former Potion's Master; what has become of the Golden Trio now?" Severus asked while picking up the _Daily Prophet_, and earning a glare from Hermione.

"You're not just my former Potion's Master…"

---

Sunday had been almost as uneventful as the day before had been. Hermione spent all day planning her lessons, because she didn't do it before; mother like daughter, and Janie did her homework while at the Quidditch pitch. Snape still had papers to grade and planning to do as well.

It was now Sunday evening, about an hour after dinner, when Harry returned to hear Hermione complain about Professor Binns.

"No wonder why everyone thought that that man was crazy! I mean, his lesson plans are so boring, and they jump all over history. He even talks about things that have happened that aren't even important! And he wonders why nobody ever paid attention in any of his classes."

"You paid attention in class, Hermione," Harry said as he sat down on the same chair from the previous night, seeing as the couch was taken once again.

"Yeah, well…"

"And if you didn't, then Ron and I would have failed that class for sure."

"If it wasn't for Hermione," Severus said, "you probably would have failed half of your classes."

_Well_, Hermione thought to herself. _So much for another peaceful night_.

"Especially potions," Harry said. "And Hermione, I'm thanking you for that," he finished, shocking both Severus and Hermione.

"Umm, you're welcome?"

"I'm serious, 'Mione. If you hadn't checked over our papers, we would have failed most of them, well, Ron anyways," he said, as Severus looked over towards Hermione.

Hermione was about to speak when the flames in the fireplace erupted green and Dumbledore's head appeared.

"Sorry to interrupt everyone's evening, but Severus, could you please come to my office?"

Snape grumbled as he got up and walked through the roaring green flames that returned back to normal, once he was through.

"So, how was your day?" Harry asked as he turned around to face Hermione in his chair.

"Alright if you enjoy planning lessons all day, which is boring just following what Binns has down."

"Why don't you change them?"

"I am, as soon as all the classes are done with what they were learning what Professor Binns was teaching them. So, how was your day Harry?"

"Good, except for this morning. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, minus the graduates, from last year are looking really good. Their seeker is really good, but she's a seventh year, so she won't be around for next year. The same thing goes for their keeper, whom I understand is related to the twins your daughter hangs out with."

"As interesting as that does sound, let's back track a little. Why were you sleeping out on the couch this morning; you looked really uncomfortable."

"Snape made me."

"He what?"

"He caught me trying to go into your room Saturday night, and dragged me to the couch. He then proceeded to tell me that if I wasn't on the couch after he woke up, I'd be a dead man."

Hermione blushed.

"I actually think that this will work out better that anyone had ever expected," Harry said.

"What, me taking the job?"

"No, your-" Harry quickly shut his mouth.

"My…room?"

Harry stayed silent.

"YOU! You were the one who sabotaged my rooms!"

"Now, I never said that-"

"You set those…those _things _up in my room! That's why you and-"

_Uh-oh_, Harry thought. _Here it comes_…

"You brought Janie in on it, didn't you? That's why you two were both in the hallway laughing!"

"Oh, like you're not enjoying the results-"

"You very well may have ruined everything in my quarters! Half of my belongings are in there! I have priceless pictures, muggle films of Janie, and heirlooms in there!"

"Hermione, calm down! Besides, you don't have to worry, I charmed all of your stuff to repeal the swamp," he said proudly.

"But you didn't think to remove them first? God only knows when I'll be able to get all my stuff back!"

Almost as on cue, Severus walked through the door, a gooey-green mess, with his arms loaded down with books with a medium box on the top.

"My books!" Hermione shrieked as she jumped from the couch. "But how-"

"Dumbledore thought it'd be a good idea if I went and retrieved some of your books for you."

"Are my quarters clear?" She said, ignoring his sticky appearance.

"Far from it."

"So, you went _into_ the swamp to get some of my belongings?"

"Yes."

"Thank you!" Hermione said, as she launched herself at Severus' arms, making him drop everything onto the floor.

"Umm…Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

"You're getting swamp all over your clothes."

Before Hermione was let down from his arms, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and said a quick "thank you." As soon as her feet hit the ground, she scurried over to her room and into the bathroom. Severus left a few seconds later, stunned that any of that had happened.

When Hermione had returned a few minutes later, wearing new clothes, she sat back down. Harry looked at her and gave her an 'I-told-you-so' look, which Hermione replied with her own 'shut-up-Harry-or-I'll-make-you' look.

After she had sat down, she bent over and picked up all the books on the floor, looking through them all. Severus returned fifteen minutes later, to be greeted by a grinning Hermione.

"You brought my favorite books!"

Severus looked from the grinning-like-mad Hermione, then to the 'boy-wonder,' whom he glared at, because he was smirking. Being please that he was able to get to Harry, who immediately looked down at the paper, he sat down next to Hermione on the couch.

"What books do you have there?" He asked, pointing at the pile of books on the couch.

"Shakespeare's collected works, a poetry book, Hogwarts, A History, a few muggle books, and then a small collection of potion books."

"Did you bring all your books to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"No, just some of them. I have most of my potion books and books like that still in my lab at home. Half of the other books are currently in the swap that used to be my quarters," Hermione said, picking up her Shakespeare book and began to read it.

At a quarter to midnight, Snape decided that he was going to go to bed. As he passed Hermione, he had realized how unusually quiet she had been. When he looked at her, he found his answer; she was sound asleep on the couch, the book still in her hand.

Snape sighed, "Looks like Ms. Granger has fallen asleep."

"I'll wake her up if you want, Professor," Harry offered.

"Waking her up would be quite rude, Potter," Severus said as he set his book down on the table and did the same with Hermione's. He then bent down and lifted Hermione up into his arms, causing her to shift and rest her head on his shoulder.

Snape effortlessly carried Hermione to her bedroom and pulled the covers over her, once she was lying down.

"Severus?" She asked groggily, as she tried to lift her head from the pillows.

"Goodnight, Hermione," he said as the door quietly clicked shut.

---

The next morning found everybody in the Great Hall eating breakfast. Hermione had managed to persuade Harry to stay after she woke him up from yet another uncomfortable night on the couch.

When Snape had come out of Hermione's room the night before, he found Harry already lying on the couch. Harry had made sure that he was all situated, so that he didn't have another repeat of the previous night- or morning.

The whole Hall was enjoying their peaceful breakfast, until the doors burst open, revealing a very perturbed-looking Ronald Weasley.

As the doors flung open, his bellow filled the entire hall, "SNAPE!"

"What is he doing here?" Snape asked Hermione, as he stood up.

"I told you that he wasn't done yet," Hermione hissed into Harry's ear, as they also stood up.

The whole hall watched as Ron stormed up the center isle and stopped short of the Head Table.

"What the bloody hell are you two doing here? You," he said pointing at Harry. "You said you were busy with Quidditch!"

"I _am _busy with Quidditch, Ron! You were asked to come too; you do remember that, don't you?"

This only seemed to make Ron even madder, as he turned his finger onto Hermione.

"So, you _are_ a traitor; making my sister believe that _he _is Janie's rightful father!"

"Mr. Weasley!" Professor McGonagall shrieked, but Ron pretended not to hear her.

"Ronald! How could you say something like that! Wait, I know, it's because you're a-"

"How could you _do _something with _him_?" Ron asked, still pointing his finger at Hermione and Severus, because he still couldn't decide who to point it at.

Hermione's face went dark red and she went to move forwards, but Severus' arm reached out and grabbed hers.

"That's right Snape, don't want her getting hurt now, would we?"

"You know what Ron?" Hermione hissed. "Severus is twice the man you'll _ever_ be!"

At this statement, Ron started to move towards the Head Table, causing Severus to protectively pull Hermione safely behind him, causing a wicked smile to spread across Ron's face.

"Oh Hermione, you'd know all about that now, wouldn't you?" Ron asked in a sickly sweet voice, making Hermione try to get around Severus, her wand drawn, but he had both his hands behind his back, holding onto her arms. But after hearing this statement, Snape let go of Hermione, walked right up to the fuming red-head and punched him right in the chin, sending Ron barreling to the floor.

"SEVERUS!" McGonagall and Hermione shrieked at the same time.

"Mr. Weasley…that is ENOUGH!" Snape snarled. "Janie is my daughter whether you like it or not, and I will do anything for her and her mother. You need to stop living in the past and realize that she doesn't want you anymore!"

"And she wants you? I didn't even know the truth for eleven years!"

"Maybe you didn't _deserve_ to know the truth; did you ever think about that? Maybe she didn't want to tell you, because of the way you'd react, which, by the way, you've proved that point the second you walked through those doors and ruined everybody's breakfast. So, if I were you, I would GET OUT!" Snape roared, as he bent over Ron's face.

Angered, Ron pulled out his wand, earning many gasps, as Snape slowly backed away.

"You know Snape, maybe you shouldn't get the luxury to enjoy the truth," Ron said defiantly.

"MR. WEASLEY!" Dumbledore roared as he entered the Great Hall with Remus Lupin. "PUT YOUR WAND AWAY!" Ron looked at him for a split second, and then turned back to Severus, a look of determination spreading across his features.

"I believe, Mr. Weasley, that you are no longer welcomed at Hogwarts, until further notice," Dumbledore said calmly, the twinkling in his eyes, now replaced by fire.

Ron smirked as he started to get up, while he started to silently move his lips, but was cut off as Harry bound over the Staff Table, and tackled Ron to the ground, sending his wand flying across the floor. Lupin ran over and picked the wand up, then tried to break up Harry and Ron, who were now rolling around on the floor, fighting. As soon as Ron started to move his lips, Hermione ran behind Severus and clung to one of his arms.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, stop at once! Look at the example you are setting for the students!" McGonagall yelled, but it was having no effect.

"STOP IT! JUST STOP IT! Uncle Ron, how could you do such a thing?" Janie yelled, her hands fisted at her sides, and tears slowly starting to stream down her face. "Look what you've done! You've made my mother cry, Harry attack you, and then you pointed your wand at my father! How could you! You've hurt everyone I love! And now, you're saying all this nonsense-"

"It wasn't nonsense," Ron replied sharply, "it's the truth!"

"It can't be," Janie said, her heart about ready to break.

"Of course it is, or I wouldn't have said it!" Ron snarled.

"Ron!" Harry said, picking him up and slamming him back into the ground.

"What was that for?" He yelled, trying to push Harry off of him.

"Stop being such a prat!"

Angered, Ron went to start again, but Harry quickly grabbed onto his arms and vanished with a 'pop'.

Confused, Janie turned around and looked at her parents and the rest of the professors.

"Is it true? Is all of it…true?"

When everybody stayed quiet, a look of horror crossed her features.

"It's true then, all of it?" She asked, but didn't receive an answer, for everybody seemed too shocked to speak. Janie stared at them all for several more seconds, and then ran through the Great Hall, and out the giant oak doors, Remus following closely behind her.

After Janie had left, Professor Dumbledore hastily got everybody out of the hall, but not before telling them that all Potions and History of Magic classes would be cancelled for the day.

Severus turned around to find Hermione trembling where she stood. When he went to stay something to her, she jumped towards him, wrapped her arms around his neck and started to cry.

"Severus," Dumbledore said. "Go take care of Ms. Granger; I assure you that Janie will be fine."

Severus nodded and carried the still-sobbing Hermione, seeing as she wasn't going to walk anywhere, to their quarters. When he set her down on the floor, she was still clinging to him like her life depended on it, and was sobbing into his shoulder.

"I can…can't believe…that he could….say such…awful things! Did you see the lo-look on-on Janie's face?" She wailed.

"Yes, and you're right, Weasley had no right to talk like that," Severus said quietly.

"And he tried to cur-curse you! Did you, did you re-read his lips? That was such an awful curse! You would have been in the Hospital Wing for a lo-long time!" Hermione said, getting herself even more worked up than she already was.

"Ssshhh, calm down Hermione," he said softly. "It didn't happen, so we should be grateful for that," he said gently, as he rubbed her back.

"But it was just so horrible!"

"Yes, I know, but it's over now; it's in the past."

Hermione seemed to calm down a little at this, because she was no longer soaking Severus' black coat with her tears. Several minutes were spent in silence, until Hermione finally spoke, he voice no longer trembling.

"Severus…did you really mean what you said back there?"

Severus thought about this for a moment and then replied, "Yes, I do; all of it."

Hermione pulled away from Severus' arms to look into his eyes, which showed that he truly meant what he had said. Before Severus had fully realized what was going on, Hermione bent up and kissed him right on the lips; a kiss that was eleven years over due.

---

Janie ran as fast as she could out to the lake. She thought about going to the Room of Requirement, but her father would probably know to look for her there. She was then going to settle for a rock by the lake, but when she turned around, she saw that Remus Lupin was running after her, so she continued to run along the lake, until she found the solution- Hagrid.

Janie ran up the steps to Hagrid's Hut, and when she reached the door, she started to pound on it.

"Why 'ello there Janie," Hagrid said, realizing that there were tears streaming down her cheeks. "What's the matter?" He asked as he ushered her into his home and started to make tea, leaving Professor Lupin on the outside.

"It was so horrible! My Uncle Ron came up to the school and started to insult my parents. Then, he made my Mum cry, and my Dad punch him in the jaw. Then, after he and my Dad were yelling at each other, Ron pulled his wand out-"

"Didn't anybody try stopping him?"

"Yeah; Dumbledore couldn't even stop him. My Uncle Harry had to knock Ron down to the floor to get him to stop. Then, Ron told everybody the truth of why nobody knew about my father being Professor Snape, because my mother didn't tell anybody…not even him!"

"Tha' can't be the whole truth," Hagrid said reassuringly, as he poured some tea.

"What's that?" Janie asked sniffling, pointing towards her giant mug.

"Tea."

"I've never had that before," Janie said.

"Try some, it's good," Hagrid said smiling.

"I know yeh mother Janie, an' she doesn't do anythin' withou' a proper explanation. I'm sure ol' Ron was a bit in over his head at the moment. He usually acts like this when he's downright angry at somethin'."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive. I've known 'Mione since her firs' year here, alon' with Harry and Ron."

"Thanks Hagrid," Janie said, while wiping her nose with the massive handkerchief that Hagrid had given her.

Janie spent fifteen more minutes with Hagrid, talking about her summer and the school year so far. When Janie came out of his hut, she was shocked when Remus Lupin's voice stopped her from behind. When she turned around, she had found him leaning up against the side of Hagrid's.

"Are you alright Janie?" He asked, he voice full of concern.

"Yes, thank you."

"You know what? Let's go for a walk around the grounds."

"I have classes-"

"You have been excused for the day; all your teachers have been informed. Besides, all Potion and History of Magic classes have been cancelled for the day."

"But…those are my parent's classes…are they alright?"

"Yes, they're fine-"

"I have to go see them," Janie said as she turned back to face the castle, when a had stopped her from behind.

"It wouldn't be wise to do such a thing; you're mother was pretty broken up about everything that happened, when you left the hall."

"How do you know?"

"Professor Dumbledore sent me an owl a few minutes before you came out of Hagrid's," he said, as he started to walk in the opposite direction of the castle.

"Oh," Janie said, as she started to walk next to him.

---

Several hours later found Severus sitting on the couch, with Hermione sound asleep, her head resting on his shoulder and the now dry black coat draped over her. As he contemplated about the day's events, he mindlessly rubbed Hermione's back.

Two hours ago, Dumbledore had flooed them and told them that Janie was with Remus and that they were at the Quidditch pitch. This of course, didn't calm Severus' nerves, but it seemed to calm Hermione's, because she fell asleep minutes after they sat down on the couch. And about now, Severus thought anything would be better than a sobbing Hermione, well almost anything. She had stopped for a little while, but that was only until Janie was brought up, then she started all over again. Hermione kept apologizing for not telling him the truth sooner, and of course, Severus said it was alright, hoping that she would settle down, but it only made her cry harder. She kept saying that it was all her fault, and that it shouldn't be "alright."

Fifteen minutes later, there was a knocking at the door. Severus got up and gently laid Hermione down on the couch and answered the door.

When the door opened, he saw a smiling Lupin along with a blur of colors that attacked him as soon as he opened the door.

"DADDY!" Janie said as she hugged his waste. "You're alright!" Janie said, as she looked around the room for her mother.

When Janie turned her head, Severus' eyes popped open as he saw a series of scrapes on one of her cheeks.

"Lupin, what did you to my daughter?"

"I-"

"Quidditch, Daddy! Don't worry; I only feel off the broom, but it wasn't very high."

"How high?"

"I don't know…how high, Uncle Remus?"

"Not that high…maybe five feet."

"FIVE FEET!" Hermione shrieked as she ran over to her daughter.

"Janie, what happened?" She asked as she dragged her daughter into her bathroom.

"Mum! Really I'm fine; it's just a couple of scratches!"

Severus heard Janie say as Hermione turned on the water.

"She fell of the broom?" Severus asked, giving Remus a raised eyebrow.

"Well," Lupin started, "after we talked, she started to talk about her flying lesson, so I took out two broomsticks. I must say Severus, your daughter is a phenomenal flyer; she probably would have given Harry a run for his money, when he was a first year."

"That still doesn't answer my question of how she fell," he said, while crossing his arms.

"Well, as you probably already know, Janie loves to do stunts on her broomstick. When she tried to do several back flips in a row, she fell off the broom and landed in the sand, by the goal posts. I was going to heal the scratches, but she wouldn't let me. She said something about showing her parents-"

"No Mum, don't heal them!" Janie shrieked as she fled from the bathroom.

"Dad, tell her not to heal my scratches," she said as she hid behind her father's legs. "They're my first ones that I got while at Hogwarts; besides, no one will believe that I was actually out on the Quidditch pitch, so I need proof."

"Hermione, if they're that important to her, let her keep them," Severus said.

"But they're scratches on her cheek!"

"So?" He asked, while Remus silently watched them in amusement.

"But-"

"Mum, really, I'm fine. They barely hurt when I got them," Janie said, matter-of-factly.

"I'm not going to win now, am I?" Hermione asked.

"Nope," a smiling Janie said.

"Well, I'll leave you three now," Remus said.

"Thank you Remus, for bringing Janie back and for watching over her," Hermione said, giving him a friendly hug, which made Severus slightly narrow his eyes. Unbeknownst to Severus, Janie saw this and inwardly smirked.

"It was no problem really, but Hagrid was actually the first one to make sure that she was alright," Lupin said, causing Severus to roll his eyes at the mention of the giant's name.

Severus hadn't even shut the door, when Dumbledore's head appeared in the fireplace.

"Ah, I see that everybody is all safe and well," Dumbledore's head said, the twinkle still visible. Before anybody had a chance to answer, Dumbledore continued.

"I have taken the assumption that the three of you probably don't want to go into the Great Hall today, so I have come up with a solution."

"Headmaster," Severus said, "that is very…thoughtful of you-"

"Nonsense, m' boy. Now, as I was saying, I have come to a solution. Wouldn't it be wonderful idea for the three of you to spend the day in Hogsmeade? And, I've made reservations for you three for dinner at a private restaurant; I believe its called Italia, it's an Italian restaurant. And no buts Severus, it's already being paid for by Hogwarts."

"I have money," Severus defended.

"I know you do, but this is an apology for not being able to stop or catch Mr. Weasley. Enjoy," he said as his head disappeared from the flames.

"Well," Janie said, "I'm going to go and get ready!"

Her parents looked at each other, and then to their daughter, who disappeared trough the door.

"Well, I guess I'll go and get ready too," Hermione said as she turned to leave, but stopped when Dumbledore's head popped up into the fireplace again.

"Oh, and Hermione, Severus? It's a very…formal place," and with that said, he disappeared while a grumbling Severus walked to his room.

Ten minutes later found Janie sitting on her parent's couch, waiting impatiently for them. She was just about ready to go and see if they had fallen into their closets when her father came out, and shockingly, he wasn't wearing black _or_ white.

Janie was shocked that her father even owned anything colorful, because she had only ever saw him wear black or white, but never blue. Now, he was wearing a jean-colored blue shirt, just like his white one, and had black dress pants on. Janie also noticed that his hair didn't even look a tad bit greasy.

"Janie," her father said. "How did you know to dress up?" He said, referring to the purple blouse she was wearing with a black skirt.

"Professor Dumbledore caught me on the way up the stairs; he said that I should wear something nice. Dad, you do know that the reservations aren't for a few hours, right?"

"Yes, Janie."

"Then why are we leaving so soon?"

"Need I remind you, that you were the one who ran out the door to get ready?"

"Oh…yeah. Besides, Mum always takes a while to get ready to go to these types of things. This one time, for my school's banquet, it took her nearly two hours to get ready, but she said it was well worth it. I think that was mainly because everybody kept complimenting her…especially all the guys," Janie said, making sure that her father caught the last part.

"Alright, I'm ready," Hermione said as she walked towards the group.

"About time Mum," Janie said, jumping off the couch. But when she reached the door, she noticed that nobody was following her, so she turned around.

There stood her mother and father, gaping at each other. Her mother was wearing simple red dress robes, which were spaghetti-strapped, with a glimmering red, transparent shawl draped across her shoulders.

Although Janie hated to break up their staring contest, she wanted to leave.

"Mum, Dad, are we _leaving _yet?"

"You're wearing blue?" Hermione asked, incredulously.

"Would you like me to change?"

"No! I mean, blue looks good on you; you should wear it more often."

"I'll keep that in mind..." Severus trailed off, not taking his eyes off of her.

"Dad," Janie whispered, "you're supposed to say how nice she looks."

Severus walked the short distance to Hermione and stopped before her, offering Hermione his arm, "And you look lovely this evening."

As they started to walk out the door, Severus leaned close to Hermione's ear and whispered, "But there's really no need to say it, because it's the truth," making Hermione blush.

The walk to Hogsmeade was peaceful, except for when Janie saw the Giant Squid. When they neared the entrance into Hogsmeade, Severus turned and led them down an almost invisible path into a forest.

"Dad, why are we walking into a forest?"

"You'll see," he said, as he continued to walk through the forest, the path now widening, which soon became a small walkway.

"Not many people know this is here; I stumbled upon it by accident while in my seventh year," he said as he led them down the winding path.

Another several minutes were spent in a comfortable silence, when a very small opening in the trees could be seen to their left. Just as they were about to come up to the opening, Severus stopped them.

"Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Trust me; close your eyes."

They did as they were told, and Severus led them into the clearing, where running water could be heard.

"Alright, open them," he said as the two stared in awe at the sight before them.

They were in a small clearing that was covered in grass, and surrounded by thick, luscious, green trees and at the end of the clearing, stood a small waterfall, and a fairly-sized pond. The waterfall cascaded down a wall of rocks and a medium stone sat in the middle of all the water.

"This is beautiful, Severus... JANIE! Don't you dare go into that water!" Hermione yelled when she noticed her daughter stopping over the water.

Janie turned around and glared at her mother. "I wasn't going into the pond, Mum. All I was doing was looking at the fish."

"Fine; be careful though," Hermione said, "you don't want to fall in now, do you?"

"Yeah, yeah; alright Mum…woah!" Janie said as she "slipped" on the bank.

Hermione ran over to her daughter and leaned over her, Severus quickly following.

"Janie! Are you alright?" Hermione asked, her face purely showing worry.

"Oww, my side is going to hurt," Janie said, clutching her side.

"Going to?"

"Yeah, when I remember the worried looks on the both of your faces!" Janie said as she burst out laughing, "gotcha!"

"That! That was _not_ funny, Janie! Don't you ever do that again!" Hermione said as she stood up. "Severus, aren't you going to say something?" She asked, turning to face him, but his face was all screwed up, as he was trying to hold in his laughter.

"That was not funny, either of you two!"

"Yes dear, it was pretty funny," Severus said, not fully realizing what he had said.

It took Hermione a few seconds to process what he had said, but when she went to say something, she quickly shut her mouth.

_I'll just tease him about it later_, she thought to herself.

They spent a little more time in the clearing, until Severus lead them out and onto the path again. While walking, Hermione decided to bring up an interesting topic that she knew neither one could get out of now.

"So Jane," Hermione said casually, "I hear that you're quite the flyer."

Janie's head immediately turned to her father, who in return shrugged.

"I dunno; I've only had one flying lesson so far."

"I heard. And I also heard that you and your father already have a secret, and I bet that your mother would really love to be let in on it."

"Which secret?" Janie said in a panic.

"What do you mean, 'what secret', Janie? There's _more_ than one? But you've only been at Hogwarts since Wednesday; it hasn't even been a week yet! I was referring to the race you participated in and your father's poor judgment of letting you do it."

"Hermione-"

"Oh, don't you 'Hermione' me Severus; you weren't even going to tell me, where you?"

"That's what a secret is, Mum," Janie said. "Besides, that's the only one. I meant the secret between me and Uncle Harry."

"I know about that one too, Janie," Hermione replied sharply.

"Alright," Severus said, "let's try to enjoy our evening and not worry about things that have already happened; do that tomorrow."

"Dad's right," Janie said, while taking hold of her father's had. "No more worrying about what I did, because I'm still here and not in trouble, or in the Hospital Wing,"

She said, while slipping her free hand into one of her mother's hand.

"See, we're all together; we're a safe and happy family."

Hermione and Snape looked at each other, both with an unreadable expression on their faces; the rest of the walk back to Hogsmeade was spent in complete silence.

**A/N: I know that some parts in the chapter may have been a little corny, but it just fit in there well. I also know that apparating is not allowed inside Hogwarts, but I couldn't think of a way to remove Ron, without dragging him out of the hall (I considered a portkey, but then decided against it). So for now, let's just say that Dumbledore knew what Harry was going to do. And don't worry, for those of you who are waiting, the reactions of the seventh years, along with the dinner will be in the next chapter. And to all of those who read and reviewed, thank you all very much, it really does mean a lot to read all the reviews; I really never expected this story to reach over two hundred. And for that, I would like to thank everyone one again. Thanks!**


	17. They Just Don't Know When to Stop

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own any of these awesome characters; they all belong to the fabulous J.K. Rowling. And I'm certainly not making any kind of money off of this.**

**Here's the next chapter, sorry for the delay, I had an unexpected Writer's Block (which I'm shocked I got), and a lot of school work, but now I'm on another mini Spring Break, so I'll start writing the next chapter soon. A special thanks to **

**Sianna Nightingale**** and to ****badminnie08**** who helped me out with this chapter. If it wasn't for some of their ideas, the chapter wouldn't be as long, and the ending wouldn't be as good, so thank you! Warning: I'm sorry if I spelt any character's names wrong; I haven't had time to look them up in the books yet.**

**---**

"Reservations?" A tiny wizard asked, who reminded the three all too much of Professor Flitwick for their liking.

"Three for Snape," Severus informed the host.

"Ah, let's see," he said, his finger scrolling down the list of names. "Yes, here we go," he said, while picking up three menus.

The three followed the small wizard to a booth located at the end of one of the rows of booths.

Janie happily claimed one side of the booth for herself, making her mother and father sit next to each other. Once everybody was seated, the host passed out the three menus.

"For you, Ms. Snape," he said as a menu was handed to Janie.

"And for you, Mrs. Snape," he said as he handed the menu to Hermione, who's jaw just about hit the floor.

"I'm not…I'm not marr-" Hermione stuttered.

"And for you, Mr. Snape."

"But-"

"Mum, just drop it," Janie said, looking at her menu. "What do you think people are going to think? You're in a fancy restaurant with a man and a child," she said, causing her father to look slightly amused.

"So? It's not like I have a ring or anything," Hermione replied.

"They're not going to be looking at your fingers for a ring; only an idiot would do that if you're with Dad."

"Thanks Janie," Severus said sarcastically.

"Anytime; Ooooo look! They have pasta and oh!" Janie said as she flipped over to another page of the menu, "They have pizza on the Muggle menu!"

"Of course Janie," Severus said looking at his own menu, "it _is _an Italian Restaurant."

"Well I didn't know if they would have pizza in the Wizarding World," Janie said, still flipping through the pages f her menu.

"They usually don't," Hermione added.

"Awesome," Janie exclaimed as she pointed to something on her menu, "they have cheese sticks!"

"What?" Severus asked, as he had no clue as to what 'cheese sticks' were.

"Cheese sticks, Dad; you've got to try them."

"What are they?"

"They're breaded cheese sticks that are deep fried," Hermione replied.

"Joy," Severus said sarcastically.

"Oh no," Hermione said under her breath.

"What is it?" Severus asked.

"Hi Hermione!" An overly cheerful voice said that made Severus cringe. "Oh, hi there Professor; I didn't see you there."

_How could you _not_ see me? I'm sitting right here; perhaps it's because I'm not wearing black_, Severus thought to himself.

"Ms. Patil."

'Padma," Hermione said, "what're you doing-"

"Oh, and who's this?" Padma asked, while bending down to look at Janie.

"I'm Janie," she replied cheerfully, "who are you?"

"Padma Patil, I went to school with Hermione."

"Oh yeah; my Uncle Harry has told me about you."

"He did now, did he? Well, what did-"

"Padma," Hermione said, trying to get her attention, "what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing while you're here with a Professor."

"She's allowed to go anywhere she wants, Ms. Patil," Snape replied.

Padma looked at the three of them and her eyes grew wide.

"Oooo; Parvati said that _you_ had a student that attended Hogwarts now, Professor Snape. Is that you daughter?" She said, motioning towards Janie.

_Well, what do you think? She's sitting _right _there!_ _No wonder why she never did well in school; she can't even comprehend a simple observation_.

"No," Snape replied sharply, "she's _our_ daughter."

A look of disgust briefly flashed across her features, until the witch realized that this was a valuable piece of information to gossip about. When the realization passed, her face looked like she just woke up and found an entire clothing store in her bedroom.

"Oh, this is new!"

"Padma," Hermione said. "No, please don't start this."

"But Hermione," she wined.

"Padma," a voice from behind her said. "Aren't you supposed to be taking other people's orders at the _other_ end of the restaurant?"

Padma grumbled something inaudible and reluctantly stalked off away from their table.

"Sorry about that," a young wizard said. "She doesn't seem to know when to talk to people and when to take their orders. Here," he said, while putting a bottle of wine on the table, along with two glasses.

"What's that for?" Hermione asked, pointing towards the newly set down items.

"It's from a Mr. Albus Dumbledore; he hopes that you enjoy you're night. He also said that he does hope that you take your time and not to rush back," he said as he turned towards Janie. "And what would you like to drink?"

"Pumpkin juice," Janie replied. "Oh, and an order of mozzarella sticks, please."

"Would anyone like anything else?" He asked, while eyeing Hermione; his eyes quickly flashed towards her hands.

"No, we're good for right now," Hermione replied sweetly.

The wizard nodded and walked away, receiving an angry glare from Severus when his back was turned.

"I'm starting to think that that Patil girl would be a more preferable waitress," Severus said.

"Why?" Hermione asked him suspiciously.

"Because-"

"And I really don't think that telling Padma about Janie was such a good idea."

"Why?"

"Because she's become just as much as a gossip queen as Lavendar and her sister."

"You don't think…"

"I'm pretty sure half of the restaurant already knows," Hermione replied, while looking around at all the people currently sitting around them. "Sorry Severus, but what were you saying before?"

"He was saying that he doesn't like the cute wizard who is waiting on our table," Janie said.

"Janie-" Severus tried stopping her, but she plowed right on through.

"He doesn't like him, because he was 'checking you out' Mum."

"Janie! He was not 'checking me out,' Janie," Hermione replied like she was hearing a bunch of nonsense.

"Yes, he was. Didn't you see the look that Dad gave him when he turned around? It was the same thing when Professor was Lupin over the other day, when he hugged you," Janie replied proudly.

"Severus-" Hermione began to question him, but he was quicker.

"So Janie," he said, while picking up his menu, "are you going to get the pasta or the pizza?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at his more than obvious attempt to end the conversation.

When the cheese sticks arrived, Severus stared at his daughter in awe as she ate them. Janie had taken a bite of the appetizer and was pulling the other half away from her, the cheese stretching just as far as her hand.

"They make you dress up to get into the restaurant and then they serve food like that," Severus commented, pointing at the golden-brown colored food.

"Try one Dad, they're really good," Janie said, offering a cheese stick to her father.

"Not today," he said politely.

"Fine; Mum, you try it," Janie said and Hermione took the offered cheese stick.

They were now finishing their dinner, listening to Janie talk. Miraculously, Janie had actually gotten her father to eat a mozzarella stick, but he refused to have any of her pizza. His reason soon became a "no" when he watched the fall off of a piece of pizza and it burned Janie in the chin. His choice of food wasn't much better on the messiness part; he was eating an Italian meatball sandwich, while Hermione was eating some chicken dish.

When Janie was almost done with her personal pizza, she spotted the waiter carrying out an ice cream sundae out to a table.

"Woah…," she said, leaving her mouth open, "can I get one of those?" She asked, pointing towards the frozen desert.

"Not today," Hermione said.

"But why not?"

"It's getting late and you'll be wired," she said.

"No I won't be; that only happened once. But what you didn't know was that Harry, Ron, and I were having a Jellied Slug eating contest, _before_ I had that Brownie Blast," Janie informed her mother.

"Well-"

"Let her have it, Hermione. She's not going to keep you up tonight. Besides, Dumbledore is paying for this. I think that he needs to learn how to stay out of other people's business for once," Severus said.

"So, that's a 'yes' then?"

"Go ahead," Severus said waving his hand.

"Yes!" Janie exclaimed.

Some time later, Hermione was really regretting that Severus let her order the sundae. For one thing, Janie had ordered extra hot fudge and Severus had told her to get extra whipped cream too, just to make the bill go higher. To Hermione's dismay, Janie started to drink a strawberry lemonade smoothie, because she had gotten sick of the pumpkin juice. Hermione, of course, told her daughter to get water, but Snape had told her to get something that actually costs money.

Several times, Hermione had told Severus to stop trying to spike up their dinner bill, but he had replied each time with, "I'll show Dumbledore who's paying for dinner." Hermione of course, had rolled her eyes at this, each time he had said it.

Hermione was now watching her daughter try and finish her sundae.

"I don't know what you were talking about, Hermione; she's almost done with it and she's not even affected by all the sugar," Severus said.

"Yet," Hermione added in.

"Mum, I'll be fine, really," Janie said reassuringly.

"You're going to be up all night though," Hermione said.

"Lyss and Matt will find a way to get me to sleep, and if they don't- well then, they'll be in for a long night," Janie said smirking, and then slurped the small amount of smoothie she had left.

"Janie, don't slurp; it's rude," her father said, causing Janie to make slurping noises with her straw.

"Sir," the waiter said, "would you like a copy of the check that will be sent over to Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yes," Snape replied instantly and a piece of parchment appeared in front of him.

"Thank you for coming and enjoy the rest of your evening," the waiter said politely.

"Wait one moment," Snape said as he took out his wand and pointed it at the piece of paper, making an added phrase at the bottom of the check. "Here, take this and add it into the total," he said, while handing back the check.

"Wow," the waiter said as he looked at the parchment, his eyes growing twice their size, "thank you, Sir."

When he was gone, Hermione asked, "What did you do?"

Severus crossed his arms, "Even though I don't like the boy and the fact that we're probably never going to see him again helps; I gave him a nice tip that will be sent Dumbledore."

"Severus! He's never going to trust you with money again!" Hermione said.

"Hermione, he needs to learn when to turn those twinkling eyes off of me and onto someone else. Making the reservations was one thing, but paying for the whole thing is another."

"I know you can afford it, Severus; but did you really need to order all of that? How much of a tip did you give him, anyways?"

"Twenty percent; he _was _going to get more, but like I said, I don't like him. And oddly enough, he reminds me of someone, and I can't place who."

"Yeah," Janie said energetically, "every time Mum wasn't looking, you glared at him. And another reason you kept adding more things to the order, was to make him go back to the kitchen."

Hermione sent Severus an "are-you-jealous?" look, but Janie prevented her father from replying.

"Can we go yet?" Janie asked; since she was starting to get quite antsy, making Hermione send Severus a look that clearly said, "I-told-you-so."

"Yes, we're going," Hermione replied, when Severus scooted out of the booth. When he held out his hand to help Hermione out, an idea that made her inwardly smirk popped into her head.

Taking his hand, Hermione casually said, "Thank you, honey."

"'Honey?'" A flabbergasted Severus Snape asked.

"Well, you called me 'dear.'"

"I did? When?"

"Back in the forest; now let's go, Severus," Hermione said, while leading the way out of the restaurant, Severus and Janie following closely behind.

Once out of Hogsmeade, and on the path back up to the castle, it seemed like the sugar had finally hit Janie with a full force, because she began to run everywhere.

"Ooo! Mum, look at the half-moon! Dad! Look at the stars; hey, I think that's the Big Dipper!" Janie exclaimed as she ran between her parents and pointed up towards the sky.

"Do you see now why I originally told her no?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, it's not so bad," he replied, watching as Janie jumped off of a lower tree branch and onto the ground.

"If Janie ruins her clothes…" Hermione said, as she pulled her wand out of her pocket and transfigured Janie's nice clothes into a pair of blue jeans and a scarlet t-shirt that had the word "PRIDE," in gold letters.

"Umm, Severus? It's almost curfew."

"And?"

"Mum, Dad, can we walk around the lake, please?" Janie asked, putting on a puppy-dog pout, while folding her hands innocently behind her back.

_Well_, Hermione thought. _It's no use sending her to bed now; she'll just wake up everybody in Gryffindor Tower_.

Hermione nodded and Janie ran off towards the lake, but not before Severus noticed her new shirt.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, when she noticed that Severus pulled out his wand.

"No daughter of mine is going to wear anything Gryffindor that isn't required."

"But she's _in _Gryffindor," Hermione obliviously pointed out.

"By choice," Severus said.

"By _what_?"

"She asked the hat to be in either Slytherin of Gryffindor-" Severus immediately stopped when he realized the big mistake he had made.

"HA! The hat chose Gryffindor over Slytherin!" Hermione exclaimed joyfully.

"That doesn't mean that she's not more like a Slytherin," Severus defended.

"Severus Snape, just admit it! Your daughter made Gryffindor and not Slytherin!"

"No," he replied stubbornly.

"What am I ever going to ever do with you? Wait a second…what are you doing?" She asked, as he waved his wand in her direction and then in another wave, her wand flew into his hand and he pocketed them both.

"Two can play at that game," he said smirking.

"What-" Hermione froze, suddenly realizing what he had done.

She looked down at her dress, which was no longer red, but was now completely in Slytherin colors. The dress itself was satin and the color was black, with a dark green trim that was hardly visible. Hermione was shocked that the dress actually did look nice, when she noticed that her heels were now black and her shawl was gone.

"Where's my shawl?" Hermione asked, looking around.

"You don't need it," Severus said.

"But what if it gets cold outside?"

"We can manage," he said. "Besides, I couldn't think of a color for it."

"Since when do you know anything about fashion; all you ever wear is black."

"You're wearing black now, aren't you?"

Hermione opened her mouth several times to say something, but she couldn't find a comment worth retaliating with.

"Mum, close your mouth; you're starting to look like a fish," Janie said as she climbed up onto one of the larger rocks by the lake, apparently looking for the Giant Squid, but she quickly gave up when she didn't see it.

Now, Janie laid down on the rock, looking up at the starts, when she started to sing, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Listening to her daughter, Hermione looked up into the cloudless, starry sky and gasped, "It's gorgeous!"

_You're gorgeous_.

Severus looked up into the night sky and decided that the sky tonight could rival Dumbledore's blasted eyes. While looking up at the sky, he reached out and entwined his fingers with Hermione's.

"You know," Severus said. "I think we finally have found something that would put Dumbledore's eyes finally out of business," he finished and earned a brilliant smile from Hermione in return.

---

Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room:

The common room was mostly empty, except for five remaining seventh years.

"Can you believe that she's her daughter?" Marilyn Thomas asked.

"No way," Anne Finnegan replied. "I mean, she looks like Snape's mini-me when they're standing by each other."

"She's too cute to be his kid," Marilyn said.

"Well at least she doesn't have his nose," Anne said. "But what I don't get is how someone like Hermione Granger would stoop so low as to someone like Professor Snape. I mean Potter was right there in front of her the whole time!"

"Stop talking like it didn't happen," one of the boys said sharply. "Because it did," he said, turning towards Damien. "Good going man, you upset the daughter of Snape and probably the most powerful witch in all of the Wizarding World; I'd sure hate to be in your position."

"She can't be her daughter," Damien replied wearily.

"She is; you saw the Weasley boy this morning. Why did you have to upset the daughter of the two most short-tempered people anyways?" Damien's other friend, Mark, asked. "I mean, now we know where she gets her temper from; it's not just Snape, it's the both of them; so I wouldn't mess with her anymore, if I were you."

"She can't be Snape and Granger's daughter, it just isn't possible."

"She is Damien, just give it up; denying it won't help you anymore. Hey, now you can say that you are now officially the enemy of a Granger-Snape; nice going."

"She's not their daughter, and I'm going to prove it," Damien said determinedly.

---

It was now one thirty in the morning, and Janie was still at it. When the three had gotten back, it was decided that Janie was in no condition to go back to Gryffindor Tower, so she was going to have to spend the night in her parent's quarters.

Snape silently watched as Hermione tried for an hour to get Janie to take a _Dreamless Sleep Draught_, but every attempt proved to be fruitless. It had actually turned out that Janie knew _exactly_ what her mother was trying to persuade her to drink. After an hour, Janie finally got sick of her mother trying to get her to drink it, so she took it and dumped it down the drain. Hermione, of course, tired to get more out of Severus, but he only replied by telling her to let the sugar wear itself out.

Janie was _still_ going strong twenty minutes later and Hermione was still nagging Severus to find her a potion before she locked herself out of the quarters for the night. Tired of the nagging, he decided to go into his secret lab to "work" on a Dreamless Sleep potion, but instead, he was making himself a rather large batch of a headache remedy.

When it seemed safe enough to return to his quarters, Severus emerged from his secret lab to find an oddly quiet living room. The first person he saw was Hermione sitting in front of the fireplace, reading.

"Where's Janie?" He asked.

She pointed at the other end of the couch, "Thanks for the potion, Severus," she said sarcastically.

Severus looked at the end of the couch that Hermione had indicated and there was Janie, knocked out cold.

"What did you do, knock her out with a book?"

Hermione shot him an icy glare, "No. After five minutes of jumping from the couch to the chairs, she sat down and fell over; she's been like that ever since."

"Well why didn't you move her?"

"Are you nuts!" Hermione asked incredulously. "I'm not going to without waking her up and if I use magic to move her and she wakes up, then she'll be screaming. Trust me; I've already tried it, twice. Besides, you're the only one who can carry her without having to put her down after awhile; even Harry and Ron can't do that…Wait, where are you going?" She asked when Severus carefully picked up Janie and started to carry her over towards the bedrooms.

"I'm going to put her to bed," he said after he passed up Hermione's bedroom.

"Where?"

"My room," he stated, making Hermione stand up.

"Put her in mine," Hermione said. "I was going to sleep on the couch," she informed him, as she crossed the room over to Severus and Janie.

"You're not sleeping on the couch Hermione, you have your first classes tomorrow."

"So? I'll just transfigure something into a cot."

"No," he said, going into his room.

"Severus Snape, you are so stubborn!" Hermione exclaimed as she went and laid down on the couch, reading her book.

Severus returned minutes later behind the couch, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.

"And you Granger, are equally as stubborn," he said as he rounded the couch, "sit up."

"Why?"

"So I can sit down," he said as Hermione reluctantly sat up; it seemed like her plan wasn't going to work after all, or maybe it would.

The two read in silence, until Severus felt a weight on his right shoulder. Looking down, he saw that Hermione's head was resting on his shoulder. He would have let her stay like that, except he saw that her book was on the table, with a page already marked. He knew _exactly_ what she was trying to do.

Putting down his own book, he turned in his seat, making Hermione's head move to rest on his chest.

"Hermione," he said.

No movement.

"Hermione," he tried again, but a little more loudly.

This time, Hermione "unconsciously" snuggled closer to the quickly getting irritated Potion's Professor.

"Hermione, you're not sleeping out here," he said, making her grab one of the couch cushions with her hidden hand.

"C'mon Hermione, please? You have your first classes in the morning and you wouldn't want to give anybody the wrong impression now, would you?"

Hermione had to bite her tongue to refrain herself from making a snide remark about the events that had happened that morning. To cover up any movement that he might have felt, Hermione moved her free hand up to rest on his shoulder.

By now, Severus was getting very aggravated at Hermione's attempts to stay on the couch, and the fact that she wasn't listening to him.

"Dammit Hermione, get up!" Severus said while standing up, making Hermione fall onto the couch.

"Thanks Severus," she said, while making herself comfortable on the couch.

"Why are you so determined to sleep on the couch?"

Hermione thought about it for a minute and then shrugged, "Because I want to."

Severus watched her for a few moments before he bent down and picked her up.

"Where are we going?"

"_You're_ going to bed," he said as he carried Hermione towards her bedroom.

"Severus! Put…me…down!" She said as she tried to free herself from his arms.

Once inside Hermione's room, he strode over to her bed, used one hand to lift up the covers, and put her in them.

"This is no fair," she said, trying to get out of the bed.

"Yes it is," Severus said while taking out his wand and silently performed a spell.

"Hey! I can't move!"

"I charmed the blankets to stay where they are for an hour, so make yourself comfortable," he said, moving towards the door. "Good night, Hermione," he said when he shut the door, which blocked out all her protests.

Since then, everything had been, until Janie woke up an hour and a half later, complaining about a stomach ache.

When Janie wandered out of her father's rooms, she was going to get her mother, but she wasn't the first person she saw. Janie quietly walked up to her sleeping father and tried to wake him up, but when that didn't work, she tried tugging on his sleeve.

"Dad…Dad? Dad, wake up," she said, pulling his arm off the couch.

"What?" A very groggy-sounding Severus Snape asked.

"I don't feel good," Janie replied tiredly.

"What do you mean, 'I don't feel good?'"

"I feel like I'm going to be sick," Janie said, making her father jump off of the couch.

"Are you going to be sick right now?"

"I don't know."

"Well, what do you mean you don't know?"

"I dunno; where's Mum?"

Having hardly any idea on what to do, Severus did the only thing he was certain of.

"HERMIONE!"

When he reached Hermione's door, he threw it open, revealing a very flustered looking Hermione, sitting up in bed.

"What's wrong?" She asked quickly.

"Janie doesn't feel good; she said that she might be sick," Severus said as Hermione flew out of bed and out the door.

"Janie, are you alright?" Hermione asked, once she was hugging her daughter.

"I don't feel good Mummy; I think it was all the sugar I ate," Janie said, making Hermione shoot Severus an evil glare.

"I told you not to eat all of that sugar, Janie. And I told _you_ not to let her have it all," Hermione said while looking at both of them.

"It was an honest mistake Mum; Dad didn't know how I react to a vast amount of sugar."

"Just promise me that you won't eat that much sugar again for a very long time."

"Alright, but if you don't stop hugging me, I won't be able to promise you something," Janie said and Hermione quickly let go of her daughter, not noticing the missing presence of the Potion's Master.

"Mum, where'd Dad go?" Janie asked, looking around the room.

"Right here," Severus said, suddenly appearing from behind one of the many overstuffed bookshelves on one of the side walls. "Here, take this," he said, handing Janie a vial with a brown liquid in it.

"Err, what is it?" She asked, as she took the offered vial from her father.

"It's an anti-nausea potion."

Janie tilted the vial back and drank all of the contents in the bottle, making a sour face when she tasted it.

"Ugh! That was horrible! It tasted like, like s-"

"Janie!" Her mother shrieked.

"What? I was going to say something else, Mum; not s-"

"Alright then, did the potion seem to help at all?" Severus asked.

"A little bit," Janie replied. "Can I have some water?"

Severus nodded and went into the kitchen to get her a glass of water. When he came out, he found that mother and daughter were both sitting down on one end of the couch. Janie was curled up next to her mother, while Hermione silently ran her fingers through her hair.

"Here's the water," he said, when Janie sat up to take it.

When Severus was rid of the water, he sat down at the other end of the couch and drifted to sleep.

---

"Wake up Mum, wake up Dad!" Janie said cheerfully and stopped to stand in front of her parents.

"Really, you two don't want to be late for classes now, do you?"

There was little stirring from the couch, so she left their quarters and returned ten minutes later with a Weasley product that was brightly labeled, "Sleep-Be-Gone."

Smirking, Janie shook the product up, ripped off the top, and ran from the room. When she was safely hidden behind the bathroom's door, she plugged her ears and waited.

_Three…two…one…Yes! _Janie thought as she knew her parents wouldn't be sleeping for very much longer.

When the small object went off, a very loud blaring noise, that was similar to an air horn, went off right next to the slumbering pair. When the noise had ceased, Janie cautiously crept out of her hiding spot and poked her head around the corner.

Her mother was rigidly sitting straight up, looking dazed and confused, while her father was on the floor, having previously rolled off of the couch. The Weasley's noise-making device was now smoldering on the table, courtesy of Severus, who blew it up with his wand.

An hour later found a few of the residents at Hogwarts seated in the Great Hall, eating breakfast. Hermione was just about to ask Severus about her potion's lab, but her attention was adverted when an owl dropped a purple envelope in her lap, making Hermione jump.

"Who's it from?" Severus asked, before Hermione even had the chance to pick it up.

"You're not nosy now, are you?" Hermione asked, while turning the letter over, which was addressed to the both of them.

She looked at it for another moment, before she finally realized what it was. Hermione quickly got up, pushed her chair in and left the Hall, Severus following close behind her. Hermione walked down the corridor, until she found an empty classroom. Once they were both inside, Severus shut the door behind them and tried to grab the letter from her.

"Let me see it," Severus said, trying to grab it.

"No."

"It's addressed to me too."

"But my name is on there first," Hermione said, while she opened the letter.

When the letter was opened, it jumped out of Hermione's hands and into the air. When the opening started to move, Mrs. Weasley's voice filled the room.

"_Hello Hermione, I hope Severus is there too_," the letter said, and looked towards Severus and then nodded in acceptance.

"_I must apologize for Ronald's rude behavior, I for one am appalled by it; he was certainly raised better. I do hope that everyone is alright. Now Severus, I don't approve of you hitting my son, but I'm glad somebody finally did it; he has been getting a bit out of hand lately, if you ask me_."

Mrs. Weasley's voice was interrupted my Ginny's, _"He had it coming anyways, pulling his wand out on you, Professor. But you'll be pleased to know that he has a nice bruise where you hit him_."

"_Ginny!"_

"_Well it's true, Mum! Besides, it's not going away for a long time now. When he fell asleep last night, Fred and George put some potion of theirs to lengthen the effect and enhance the color_," Ginny proudly said.

"_It was BLOODY BRILLAINT!" _The twins said at the same time.

Molly's voice was heard in the background, and then a lot of pushing and shoving.

"_Sorry about that Hermione, Severus. Now, as I was saying, I'm terribly sorry about everything that had happened. It was quite a shock to have Harry and Ron suddenly appear in our living room, rolling around on the floor, trying to gouge each other's eyeballs out. _

"_Now, I would like to invite the both of you over for dinner one night, and I'm not going to take 'no' for an answer."_

"_Mrs. Weasley, watch out!" _Harry shouted from a distance.

"_Mum," _Ron roared.

"_Hush up, Ronald and go away. Can't you see that I'm sending a message?"_

"_But Mum-" _Ron's voice suddenly faded.

"_As I was saying; it would be just lovely if we could have the _both_ of you for dinner one day. Hermione, please send me an owl with what dates are good for the both of you; I doubt Severus will do it. I can't wait until you two come over; it would be just wonderful to see you both again. We'll talk to you later, oh wait…Harry wants to talk to you," _Mrs. Weasley's voice soon faded and was replaced by Harry's.

"_Hey Hermione…Professor_. _I'm sorry that I left so abruptly yesterday; I hope you both are alright_. _Please tell Janie that I'm sorry I didn't get to say goodbye_. _Well, hope to see you both later_._"_

When Harry was finished, the purple letter burst into flames and the ashes cascaded down to the floor, where they sparkled and disappeared.

"Well," Hermione said, "at least it wasn't a Howler from Ron."

"Hmm…," Severus paused for a few moments. "What are you going to do about it?"

"_We're _going to go to the dinner that Molly wants to have."

"Why?"

"Because it might put us on better terms with Ron again."

"I highly doubt that I was ever on good terms with Mr. Weasley."

"Just go to the dinner; if not for me, then for Janie."

Rolling his eyes, Severus replied, "Fine, I'll go, but if Weasley instigates anything, he might just end up a matching bruise on the other side of his face."

This time, it was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes, "What _is _anyone ever going to do with you?"

Severus gave her a small smile and then shrugged.

---

Hermione's first class so far, was going well. She had expected a little more trouble from a seventh-year Gryffindor and Slytherin class. After she had given the class a brief introduction on what they would be doing, she let them ask questions. Most of the questions so far, had been normal, until one of the Gryffindor girls raised her hand.

"Professor, is it true that Janie Snape is your daughter?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Yes."

"Then Professor Snape is her father, right?"

"Yes, but I don't see how this is relevant to anything we were discussing."

"How rude of Professor Snape! He didn't even ask you to marry him, did he? Someone needs to teach that man some manners!"

"Ms. Kirkpatrick, that'll be five points from Gryffindor. Next time I hear you speaking like that about a Professor again, it'll be more," Hermione said seriously.

"Yes ma'am," she said, while winking at Damien and the girl sitting next to him, who raised her hand and was called on.

"So, you were actually in a relationship before with Professor Snape? The Professor Snape: greasy git from below?"

"Five points from Gryffindor. Did you not just hear what happened to your fellow classmate?" Hermione was now getting quite aggravated at her class, but more specifically the Gryffindors. Before she got to declare that no more questions would be answered, somebody else spoke.

"Anne, you are totally wrong," Damien said. "Professor Granger would _never_ sink low enough to have a relationship with Professor Snape. I mean, she would have no problem with getting a date; half of the guys in the castle goggle at her in the corridors; I bet Snape is _really_ happy about that," he added sarcastically. "Besides, the only way Snape could ever get a date was if-"

"Mr. Brushour, that is _enough_! Twenty points from Gryffindor for your rude behavior, and another five for not addressing your professors with the proper respect."

"But it's true, Professor! You should have heard all the guys in the common room last night," Anne said.

"Enough about the common room and enough about my personal life," Hermione said. "Alright, now-"

"Wait a second," Damien said, "if you have all the young guys after you, then why settle for _Professor_ Snape?"

"Detention tonight, Mr. Brushour, and that is _absolutely_ none of your business."

"Are you sure? Because, I could hook you up with someone a…let's see…a little more around your age."

"That's it! Mr. Brushour, out in the hall, _now_!"

"Before I do that, I would like to let you know that I can't do the detention tonight."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm already serving three weeks with Filch, assigned by Professor Snape."

"Then you'll serve it before or after the detention and I don't care how late it is."

"I can't, I have other work to do."

"You _are_ going to serve it."

"Or what, you're going to sick your dear Potion's Master on me? He's already gotten me once, and didn't even get his own daughter, who by the way punched me in the face; at least now I know where she gets it from."

Hermione looked like she was in the line of a moving freight train.

"So, I take that you didn't know how your daughter broke my nose and wound up with nothing?"

Damien's voice seemed to snap Hermione out of whatever shock she was in, because she walked over to him, grabbed him by the ear and dragged him out of the classroom and into the hallway. On her way out, she threatened her class with a two-foot long essay due the next day if they weren't quiet. Before she got a chance to shut the door, she pulled Damien's ear harder to get him out of the way, making him hiss in pain and say something that he would soon regret.

"Oww! Let go of my ear, you little mudblood!"

Hermione stopped for a split second, tugged on his ear harder, and slammed the classroom door, the sound echoing up and down the corridors. Once two students passed them in the hallway, Hermione let go of his ear, and stood there with her arms crossed.

Three corridors away, Severus was talking with Filch about giving three second years detentions for trying to skip their Charms class, when they heard the door slam, shifting Snape's attention.

As he made his way towards the source of the noise, he realized that the destined corridor was the hallway where they taught all the classes that didn't have a large use for using wands, including History of Magic. Snape stopped right in his tracks when he recognized the angry voice that was coming from down the middle of the corridor.

"I believe that you have earned yourself another two weeks of detention and let's see...another fifty points off of Gryffindor? Yes, that seems about right," Hermione said with a very pissed off expression.

"_Fifty points_?" Damien asked incredulously.

"What? You're lucky that you didn't get more points taken off! _Nothing _gives _any_ students the right to disrespect their professors! Not referring to other professors respectfully is one thing, but calling them disrespectful names in their present is another. I don't care who else does it, you do not talk ill fully about other teachers, even if they're not in the room!"

Snape didn't need Hermione to say which Professor Damien was talking about; he was sure he already knew.

"You don't call any teacher by any nickname that they may have and you certainly don't call _any _teacher a 'mudblood.' Where did you use a word like that anyways, you're in Gryffindor."

"So, I can call any other person a mudblood?" Damien asked.

"No you may not, Mr. Brushour," drawled a low, dangerous voice from behind the two.

Hermione and Damien both spun around to face the towering Potion's Master.

"Don't you think that you owe Professor Granger an apology?"

"Don't you think that I deserve an apology from your daughter?"

"Do not bring our daughter into this," Severus hissed.

"So she _is _your daughter!"

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," he sneered.

"So that means that you two…" he stopped and turned to look at Hermione, "you could have done so much better for yourself. Who would have ever guessed that the Gryffindor mudblood and the Potion's Master would wind up together after all?"

After hearing this, Hermione's face turned bright red and opened her mouth to say something very unfit for a Professor, but Snape beat her to it and cut her off. His hand flew, grabbed Damien's robes and dragged him to where the boy was just inches from his face, speaking in a tone so low, it made Hermione shiver.

"You will never, _ever _speak to her like that again, or any other Professor for that matter, understand? If I _ever_ hear you call her that name again, I _will_ make sure that you are in detention _every_ night for the _rest_ of the year. Now, I'm sure that there's a very anxious Headmaster waiting for you up in his office," he said dangerously.

Severus waited for Hermione to dismiss her class and then until the rest of the students had disappeared down the hallway. Hermione shot Severus an apologetic look as they made their way up towards Dumbledore's office.

**A/N: I know that Gryffindors usually don't call people "mudbloods," and that usually only Slytherins do, but I needed something for Damien to say that would anger both Hermione and Severus (but doesn't he sound like somebody a little familiar?). I'll include more on why he called her a mudblood in the next chapter. I hope you like the chapter, and sorry again that it took a little longer to get out than usual.**


	18. Dinner at the Burrow

**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own any of this (looks nervously towards lawyer, who nods), it all belongs to J.K. Rowling, who's a genius (lawyer nods again). (Lawyer walks over and whispers into ear. "What? What do you mean I'm not making any money off of this either?" Lawyer nods and laughs at the misfortune. "Darn.") Yeah, and I'm not making any money off of this either.**

**I owe a huge apology to all the readers for not updating in such a long time. I hope everybody enjoys the chapter!**

Several weeks later found the castle buzzing with news. The House Quidditch teams were currently busy holding try-outs and the first Hogsmeade weekend was quickly approaching.

Dumbledore was, needless to say, shocked at Damien's rude behavior towards his professors, resulting in detention with Filch until winter began. Then, after Damien was sent to his Head of House, Dumbledore gave Snape back the privilege to take an assign house points, but not detentions. Needless to say, he has made a certain Gryffindor's life a living hell since then.

When Dumbledore had finished with Hermione and Severus, Hermione dragged Severus and Janie down into their quarters and had a discussion about the new information she had just recently found out. The discussion quickly turned into Hermione yelling at the two about Janie's behavior on her first night back to Hogwarts and for Severus not telling her about it sooner. It had quickly passed and for the rest of the day, Severus and Janie had avoided Hermione at all costs.

To add to Hermione's disapproval, she had caught him one day taking points off of Damien for holding a girl's hand in the hallway and she was slightly angered by it. She had walked right up next to Snape and gave the girl back the points that he had taken away from Damien, using the excuse that "The world needs a little more love."

When the couple had walked down the hallway, Hermione pushed pass him saying, "Really Severus, nobody takes points off of _you_ for holding _my_ hand."

That night, Severus told Hermione that since she had the audacity to challenge his decision, she wasn't allowed to sit next to him on the couch, which angered her for reasons that Severus didn't know. So, Hermione invited Ginny over, at eight o'clock at night, making Severus go to bed.

Janie and Matt, much to Hermione's dismay, had once fallen asleep during a History of Magic lesson. Lyss was able to wake Matt up by hitting him in the back of his head with his text book, but poor Janie was as fortunate and had to suffer her mother's wrath. Unbeknownst to Hermione and Severus, the reason to why Janie had fallen asleep, was because she had secretly tried out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and had made the first cut. She of course, had lied and said that she was a second year, even though everybody knew that it wasn't true. When the captain of the team had noticed that she had a lot of talent, he decided to keep her for the final cut, and passed it off as "just a security." But what everybody didn't know was that to make sure that Janie had a chance, the captain cut three other Seekers who had tried out, leaving only three left.

Severus and Hermione were getting along fine with sharing their quarters with one another, except for the time when Hermione had invited Ginny over at night. When Severus walked into their quarters and saw the two giggling on the couch, he walked into his room and slammed his bedroom door. When they weren't grading papers, Hermione and Severus could be found reading on the couch. That seemed fine, until Hermione started falling asleep on the couch. After about the fifth time in two weeks, Severus was starting to think that she was doing it on purpose.

It was now a sunny; Wednesday October morning, five weeks after the school term had started. Everybody was enjoying a peaceful breakfast, but that was until Hermione turned to Severus and potentially just ruined his entire weekend.

"Severus, what are you doing Friday?" She asked, thumbing through a few letters.

His eyebrows shot up, "I have nothing planned yet; why?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," he replied hesitantly, not knowing if he wanted to know the answer as to why she kept asking him if he was sure.

"You're not doing anything? Anything at all?" She asked while pulling a letter out of the small pile.

Thinking that he might have forgotten something, he replied, "Whatever you're doing."

"Good; because Mrs. Weasley is expecting us for dinner on Friday evening," Hermione said, making Severus splutter whatever pumpkin juice had in his mouth back into his glass.

"What?"

"Mrs. Weasley and I have been trying to find a suitable day for weeks now, so on Monday; I told her that _we_ would be able to come on Friday night. She said that would be fine, except Bill won't be able to make it and Fred may have to leave after dinner," Hermione said, while opening up a letter.

"Pity; you know what, I think that I am busy that night after all."

"With what?"

"I think that I have a feeling that I will have many, many essays to grade, all weekend."

"Severus, so help me; if you assign some asinine-long essays, just to get out of going to the dinner. I swear, if you do that, I _will_ have the students take them out during my class, and I will rip them _all_ up."

He scowled, "You wouldn't dare."

"Watch me," Hermione said, as Janie walked into the hall and then she called her up to the Head Table.

"Yes Mum?"

"Janie, will you do me a favor?"

She nodded.

"Good; if your father assigns you an essay that is due Friday, don't do it."

"Are you sure?" Janie asked, looking from her mother to her father, whose face remained emotionless, except for the brief flicker of shock that passed across his eyes.

"Yes. Besides, I don't think he would give you a zero anyways."

"Oh…alright," she said, turning towards her father, "sorry Dad, but I'm not going to do any homework that you assign until Monday."

With that said, Janie walked back to Gryffindor table and sat next to her two friends.

"I'm going to kill her!" Hermione exclaimed, reading one of her letters.

"Who?" Severus asked.

"Padma," she seethed.

"What did she do now?" He asked wearily.

"See for yourself," Hermione said and thrust the letter into Severus's hands, not realizing what she had actually done.

_Dear Hermione_,

_Now I know that we haven't really kept in touch since Hogwarts, but Padma had told me this very interesting story a few days ago about this cute little girl and a certain Professor_ _being her father_. _From what I hear, a certain Gryffindor is together with a certain greasy-haired Slytherin and they have a kid_. _First off, Parvati and I are slightly appalled by this, but we can't say that we didn't see it coming_. _We never told you this, but during the last month of school, Parvati and I would stay up late and talk about boys, when we heard you talking in your sleep about a nightmare you were having_. _You were saying something about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named trying to take the father away from your child_. _That, and the time when you wouldn't stop staring at Professor Snape when we were brewing the _Amortentia Potion. _I remember in Slughorn's class when you went on rambling on what you smelled coming off of the potion-and then suddenly stopped. Then, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, when Snape passed you, you started blushing like mad_. _But anyways, Parvati and I would like to warn you, as fellow roommates at Hogwarts, that you'd better watch what you're getting yourself into; nothing good will come out of it, you know._

_Best regards,_

_Lavender and Parvati_

_P.S. Parvati says, "Hi_._"_

Snape finished reading the letter and folded it back up.

"Well-" he began, but Hermione cut him off.

"The nerve of her! Telling me to watch out; I'll give her something to watch out about…" Hermione rambled on, while Severus picked up the letter and re-read it.

"Did you really have nightmares that I would be killed in the war?" Severus asked.

Hermione immediately stopped her rambling and thought for a moment; her face looked like she was trying to remember something.

"I swear I cast a silencing charm around my curtains at night," Hermione said softly.

"You had _more_ than one nightmare about me being killed?"

"Yes," she replied quietly, a small blush creeping up on her cheeks.

"Why didn't you tell me about them?" He asked.

Hermione gave him a look that clearly said, "Are you stupid?"

"Don't give me that look, Hermione; I could have at least made you some dreamless sleep potions."

"And you wouldn't have questioned me about them?"

Snape was silent.

"Exactly my reason."

"Then why didn't you just go to Poppy?"

"Are you crazy? After what she tried doing to me…that night…I never accepted another potion from that lady until this year."

Snape looked at her incredulously, "You never asked for _any_ morning sickness or any pain-relieving potions?"

"I only used the ones that you made me and then I made a few."

"McGonagall gave them to you then?"

"Yeah; she said that they were for a…project I was working on; sent from Professor Snape. She was actually quite shocked that you had made me anything, so she kept questioning me."

"And what did you say?"

"Oh, that I was just as shocked as her," Hermione smirked when she was the look that came across Snape's face. "No, I told her that I had left them during the last Potions lesson."

"What – no thank you?"

"Thank you," Hermione smiled, "for everything."

"You're welcome," he replied with almost a true genuine smile, which melted Hermione's heart.

_He smiled! It was a real smile, no half smirk, no twitching of the lips_;_ it was a real smile! You know, he looks awfully cute when he smiles_; _someone should tell him that_.

Friday came way to fast for Severus, who was dreading going over towards the Weasley's, ever since he had find out on Wednesday. He had assigned all the fifth years homework on Wednesday, just to see what Hermione would do. Surely enough, when the students arrived for class on Thursday, they all had claimed that Professor Granger had them charm their papers to rip themselves up with the word "potion" was anywhere on it. Then, the class claimed that they watched as their Professor demonstrated how to light the scraps of paper on fire and how to make the flames change colors while it burned. Needless to say, all the potion classes did not receive any homework over the weekend.

Hermione and Severus were now currently getting ready, whit Hermione shouting our orders from inside her bedroom.

"Severus, you better not plan on going in those damned teaching robes!" He heard her call out.

"And what's wrong with my robes?"

"You're not wearing them there; we're trying to get on better terms with Ron and that does not include you going as his former Professor."

"_You're_ trying to get on better terms; I could care less," he said from inside his room.

"You don't really mean that, do you?" Hermione asked, appearing in the doorway, with a comb in her hand.

"Yes, I do," Severus's head said, as it popped out from behind his door.

"Well, you're going to have to at least try."

"No, I don't think so," he said, as his head disappeared behind his door again.

"Please? Just try."

"It'll depend on Weasley," he replied.

"Severus, please?"

"Yeah, yeah," he said, while Hermione walked up to stand right outside his door.

"Please, for me?"

There was a moments silence and then his head reappeared in his doorway.

"Fine."

"Thank you!" Hermione went to hug him, but he shut the door in her face.

"What was that for," she shouted at the door.

"I'm trying to get dressed, woman!"

"Then why did you stick your head out the door?"

"I only had trousers on," he informed her.

"Then why didn't you just come out?"

"Because."

"You're unbelievable," she said as she huffed back to her room and shut the door.

"And no black!" She yelled out from her room, several minutes later, making Severus roll his eyes.

_Merlin_, he thought as he finished buttoning up his shirt. _She's nagging worse than a married woman_.

He left his room a few minutes later, only to face an impatiently waiting Hermione, who was tapping her foot.

"Mrs. Weasley is expecting us in _five_ minutes," she informed him, while checking out his appearance. "Black?"

"Well, what did you expect me to wear?"

"You could have at least put that nice blue shirt on," she said, looking at his black button-down shirt, which was exactly like his blue and white shirts with cuffs.

"Now that I think about it, I should have worn it; Weasley definitely would have had a heart-attack if he saw me wearing anything with color."

Hermione rolled her eyes, choosing to forget that last comment. She walked up to the fireplace and picked up a handful of floo powder.

"I though we were apparating over there," Severus said.

"Nope; now let's go," she said, climbing into the unlit fireplace.

"I'll go right after you," he said, but Hermione grabbed his sleeve and pulled him into the fireplace.

"What are you doing? I told you I'd come right after you!"

"I'm not taking that chance – you'd probably floo to the Three Broomsticks and join me a few hours later."

Right before Hermione threw down the floo powder and called out their destination, Snape remarked, "You know Hermione, you're worse that a married woman."

Hermione sent him a threatening glare as she called out, "The Burrow," and in a bright green flash, they were gone.

Hermione stepped out into the Weasley's living room, closely followed by Severus, who took out his wand and cleared the soot off of the both of them. Hermione looked around the room they had landed in and paused when she saw a shocked Ron sitting on the couch.

"Hello Ronald," Hermione said, her voice holding a slight bitterness, while her eyes were drawn to the bruise on his face.

Ron grumbled.

"Mr. Weasley," Snape said curtly, making Ron grumble again as he got up and walked out of the room.

Mrs. Weasley appeared moments later, with a huge grin plastered right upon her face.

"You're early!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"Only by a few minutes," Hermione said as she gave Mrs. Weasley a hug. "Thanks Mrs. Weasley for inviting us over for dinner."

"Molly, dear; oh, it's my pleasure. I'm so glad that the both of you could make it," Mrs. Weasley said, turning to Severus and giving him a hug. She let go of Severus and held him at arms length like she would do to one of her children.

"My, my Severus, you certainly do clean-up well."

Severus was just about to say something about it being Hermione's doing, but she beat him to it.

"He certainly does," she said.

"Yes, come to think of it, I don't think I've seen him in anything but those robes with all those buttons."

Hermione nodded as Mrs. Weasley lead them both into the kitchen, calling down everyone on her way.

Once everyone was standing in the kitchen, she ushered them all into the living room, having noticed that there wasn't any more room left in the kitchen. Only Hermione, Ginny, Fleur, and Mrs. Weasley remained behind.

"Now Hermione, I don't know if Ginny has told you, but Charlie's coming over with his son Michael; he's just dying to show the boy off. I haven't seen that little boy in over a year; he's well over three now. Oh, and George is bringing Patrick over; the poor boy is going to be crushed that you didn't bring Janie along."

"Sorry to interrupt Mrs. Weasley, but I don't think Professor Snape or Ron will survive much longer if Hermione doesn't come out soon," Harry said, as he appeared in the doorway.

"We wouldn't want that to happen now, do we?" Molly said. "Hermione dear, we can talk later," she said as she steered Hermione out of the kitchen and into the mass of people.

When Hermione appeared in the living room, she was shocked by the sight that met her eyes; no wonder why Ron was going to die.

Fred walked up to Snape and asked, "Professor, can I shake your hand?"

Snape glared at him, "Why?"

"Because, I want to shake the man's hand that knocked my little brother to the ground," he said proudly.

"No Fred," Hermione said, walking over towards the two. "You're not shaking his hand, just because he punched Ron," she said, grabbing Fred's collar and pulled him away.

"Well, can I at least congratulate him?" Fred asked.

"No," Hermione said, as the fireplace erupted into green flames and George and his son stepped out.

"Aw cool; a pawty!" George's son, Patrick, exclaimed.

"Yeah, go have fun," George said, "but please, be careful. Hey Fred, what's the matter?" He asked, seeing Fred's upset expression.

"It's just Hermione being Hermione; she won't let me shake Snape's hand for punching Ron," Fred said.

"Aw, why not?" George asked.

"Because," Hermione said, "I said so."

"Jeez Hermione," George said.

"You're not our mother," Fred said, finishing his sentence.

"Fred…George!" Mrs. Weasley yelled.

"You're right, she is," Hermione said, looking down at Patrick, who was tugging on her shirt.

"Auwnt 'Mwione?"

Hermione crouched down so she was even with the boy with the cedar-colored hair and freckles.

"Did you bwing Janie with you?"

"No, I'm sorry Patrick, but Janie has school tomorrow," Hermione said, unaware of a certain pair of black eyes watching them quietly.

"Will you pwease bwing her next time?"

"Sure Pat," she said, earning a hug from the small boy.

When he pulled away, he asked Hermione in a cute voice, "You pwomise?"

Hermione smiled, "I promise," she said, ruffling his hair.

Snape stood watching the conversation, when he started to feel slightly jealous that he wasn't able to see Janie when she was that young. He was still standing in the doorway, eyes fixed on the same spot, when Hermione came up to stand next to him.

"Anything wrong," she asked, seeing that he wasn't paying any attention to anything to anything in the room.

"Besides being here?" He said, earning a glare. "No, nothings wrong?"

"I saw you watching."

Snape's eyes darted towards Hermione, then back to watch Patrick run across the room.

Having a feeling of what he was thinking, Hermione tried making a stab into getting him to confess, which, she knew probably wouldn't work.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes; why was Mr. Weasley's son so interested in Janie being here?"

"Oh, it's so cute; Patrick has a little crush on Janie. I don't really think that he knows that there's almost an eight year age gap between them, though. George came over during the summer, and Patrick asked if she would marry him; I swear, it had to be one of the cutest things I have ever seen."

"No way," Severus said, "will my daughter ever marry a Weasley."

"I'm going to love seeing you when she has her first boyfriend," Hermione said smiling.

"Not at Hogwarts, I hope," Severus said.

"And why is that?"

"No boy at Hogwarts ever has any good intentions."

"I wish I new _that_ eleven years ago," Hermione said sarcastically, earning a look from Severus.

"I'm kidding! I'm actually glad that I didn't know that," she said, matter-of-factly.

"Why?"

"Because, if I had known that, then I wouldn't be with you right now," she said.

"Good, then I'm glad you didn't know," he said quietly, causing Hermione to shift and lean up against him, the slightest tug tugging at the corners of his lips.

Since it seemed that everybody was busy with their own conversations, Hermione thought that it was an excellent time to share her thoughts.

"Is that I smile I see?" She asked.

"No," he replied, his face immediately going back to normal.

"You know, you look a lot younger when you smile…and cuter; you should do it more often."

"Are you calling me old?" He asked, with a hint of a joke in his voice.

"Of course not, but if you don't start loosening up, I'm going to call you the "grumpy _old_ man," she said, making his eyes shine with terror.

"You wouldn't dare-"

"How many times do we have to go through this? Because, you know that I will do it, given the choice."

"Then I guess you won't get any," he replied.

"Good, now that that issue is resolved, I'm going to go talk to people, which is the reason why we came," Hermione said, walking over towards one of the couches, but stopped when she noticed that Snape wasn't following her.

"And _you're_ coming with me," she said and grabbed his hand and walked over to the couch; Harry silently watching them the entire time from one of the corners.

They talked with everybody for fifteen minutes, at which time Harry had gotten sick of watching Ron's sour face and dragged him into one of the rooms connected to the living room. Once inside, he shut the door and cast a silencing.

"Harry, what's going on?" Ron asked.

"What's going on with _you_ Ron? Ever since they arrived, you've been acting like a sour prat; your comments aren't nice and your facial expressions are even worse."

"You know perfectly well as to why I'm acting like this," Ron said.

"Who cares Ron! So what if Hermione and Snape are together; they're happy!"

"How could Hermione be happy with him," Ron asked, sitting down in a chair and crossing his arms. "How Harry, how could she be happy?"

"Do you not see how they act around each other?"

"It's kind of hard not too," Ron grumbled.

"Maybe if you opened your eyes a little bit more, you'd see exactly what I've been seeing."

"We see the same thing, Harry," Ron fumed.

"Did you see that when Hermione came in the room, she stood next to him and didn't sit down by anybody else? Or, did you see the way that she can get him, and this is Snape we're talking about, to show emotions out in public, just by leaning up against him, or saying something? I'm pretty sure she's the reason as to why he's not wearing his teaching robes. Can you tell me something, Ron? Have you _ever_ seen Snape in _public _wearing _anything_ but those robes?"

Ron was silent for a few moments and then spoke, "And how do you know that's its going to last Harry?" Ron's voice started to rise. "How do you that he's not using her?"

"Just look out the window Ron!" Harry yelled, pointing at the small window on the side of the door.

Ron watched in bewilderment at Hermione and Snape, who were sitting on the couch. Patrick had climbed up into Hermione's lap and was telling them storied about all the stupid things that his father had done. He turned to Severus a few moments later and said something, making Hermione laugh and Severus smirk. Patrick then jumped off of the couch and grabbed one of his toys. He ran back to the couch and sat between Severus and Hermione, showing them his new toy.

"Do you see Ron?"

Ron remained silent.

"Janie needs a mother and a father Ron; I think both of them realize that. She just doesn't need the both of them, though; she needs a family, which I think that they're starting to realize," Harry said, still looking out the window.

"Janie was fine before _he_ came along; she had us," Ron said.

"When she's older Ron, she's going to need a father; you should see how attached she is to him bow. And what makes everything easier, is that I think that they still have feelings for each other, even after eleven years."

"Yeah right; _that's _impossible."

"Just because they're too stubborn to admit it, or whatever the reason is, you can still see it. When I stayed at Hogwarts for the weekend, Snape wouldn't let me anywhere near Hermione, if he wasn't in the room-"

"WHAT? They're sharing chambers? When did this happen?"

"A little after Hermione started teaching at Hogwarts; Janie and I sort of…destroyed her quarters so she couldn't stay there anymore."

"You did that, just so she could be with _him_?" Ron asked.

"Yes, and it's working as far as I can see."

"How?"

"Just watch them," Harry said, while taking the silencing charm off of the room and leaving a slightly confused-looking Ron behind.

Ron came out of the room a few minutes later, looking extremely shy. He walked over towards Hermione and stood, folding his hands behind his back.

"Umm, Hermione; can I talk to you?" Ron asked uneasily.

Hermione's head snapped up to look at him, "Umm, sure Ron."

Before Hermione got up, Severus placed a comforting hand on her knee, but quickly took it off when she picked up Patrick and placed him on Severus's lap, "Be good for your Uncle Severus," Hermione said, earning a scowl from the said Potions Master.

"Hi Uncle Sevewus!" She heard Patrick as she followed Ron out into one of the hallways, until he stopped.

"Are you happy?" He asked.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, wondering if she should be offended or not.

"Are you happy…with him?"

"Yes," Hermione replied almost instantly.

Ron nodded his head and was quiet for a few moments.

"Is Janie alright?"

"She's fine, except she's still mad at you."

Ron nodded again and in took a large breath, which turned into an audible sigh.

"If your happy 'Mione…then I'm happy for you – and I'm really sorry for barging into Hogwarts like that; everyone much think I'm a huge git," he said, while rubbing his arm, looking at the ground.

"Well, I don't anymore. Thanks Ron for apologizing, it really means a lot; I don't like fighting with you or Harry," she said, giving him a friendly hug.

A few minutes later, Hermione walked back into the living room with a big, goofy grin on her face and sat back down onto the couch.

"I take it that everything went all alright," Severus said, seeing the wide grin on her face.

"Everything's fine; Ron apologized," Hermione whispered happily.

"How special; can we leave now?"

"No! Dinner's going to be ready in a few minutes _and _I have to speak with Ginny," Hermione informed him.

"You can talk to her at anytime, which you proved correctly a few weeks ago."

"Well, you need to stop taking points off of Damien for doing nothing wrong."

"But-"

"Just stop doing it for no reason," Hermione said.

"Dinner!" Mrs. Weasley yelled.

The room filed out into the kitchen, and then out into the backyard; the Weasley twins silently joking about how much Snape and Hermione acted like an old married couple.

Once Hermione and Ginny had helped levitate the food out, Severus shocked Hermione by pulling out her chair for her and then pushed her chair in.

The dinner was very pleasant; everybody had actually managed to carry out conversations, without anything rude being said. Snape had talked to Arthur and Charlie about the Ministry, while Hermione and Ginny told all of the children about the wonderful world of Hogwarts. But that was only until Hermione heard a point being discussed and joined in on the conversation about the Ministry's new hired official. The conversation soon became an argument at which Mr. Weasley and Charlie dropped out and watched Hermione and Snape "duke it out."

As Charlie had put it, it was, "Time to watch the intellectuals battle." Hermione had scowled at him for it, while Severus just glared at him.

To add to Snape's dismay, Hermione went off with Ginny to talk about "girl things," as she told him, after dinner. They started to talk about Harry and Ginny (which was going quite well), until Ginny started to ask Hermione about her and Snape. Their harmless discussion soon became something else when Ginny brought out a bottle of wine.

For the next forty-five minutes, Hermione and Ginny played a game, which they hadn't played since their time at Hogwarts. They compared events that had happened since Harry and Snape, and whoever had the most-interesting story at the time, had to down a glass of wine. Needless to say, that by the time they went back downstairs, they were both a little tipsy.

When they appeared in the living room again, Hermione sat back down next to Snape on the couch, and Ginny sat next to Harry, on the opposite couch.

"About time," Snape said.

"We were all starting to think that the both of you left," Harry said.

"Oh no Harry, we would never leave," Ginny said, stumbling over the last few words. "Besides, I live here."

"What were you two doing up there?" Harry asked.

"Talking," Hermione replied.

"For an hour?" Snape asked.

"Well, not the whole time," Hermione said, a tad bit silly.

Snape looked at Ginny and then at Hermione.

"Hermione, are you-"

"We played a game," Ginny said, completely ignoring Snape.

"What kind of game?" Harry asked cautiously.

"One of the ones that we used to play at Hogwarts."

"What game?" Harry asked.

"You know that game that we played, where if you got a question wrong, you had to down a shot? Yeah, well this time, it was if the person did something better than you, you had to down a glass of wine."

"You both drank an _entire_ bottle of wine…in under an hour?" Snape asked.

"Well, Hermione had more than me; she won the game," Ginny said.

Snape looked at Hermione and asked, "And how did you win the game?"

"I had _a lot _of better things happen to me that Ginny has."

"And they are?" Snape asked, not sure if he actually wanted to hear the answer.

"Janie…and you."

Hermione had now left the room for the fourth time in forty-five minutes and Severus couldn't figure out for the life of him as to why she was slurring her words, because she said she was only drinking punch. He had even gone as far as smelling her drink, but couldn't find any trace of alcohol. It was then that Snape looked across the room and saw that Ginny Weasley was drinking the same exact thing.

When Hermione sat back down on the couch, Snape asked for her drink.

"There's nothing in there, Severus; you've already smelled it," she slurred, earning a disapproving look from him.

Snape raised the glass to hips lips and took a mouthful. "This isn't punch!"

Hermione looked like a child, who just got her fingers caught in the cookie jar, right before dinner.

"Uh-oh; I must've grabbed the wrong pitcher," Hermione replied innocently.

"How could you not know it was punch? It was loaded with-"

"Hey!" Ron's voice came from the kitchen. "Who drank all my firewhiskey punch?"

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other and started giggling, making Ron walk up, his face red.

"I needed that! Mum's got me playing 'house' with the kids! I even put a charm on it, so she wouldn't know it was alcohol unless she tasted it! How can you expect me to play a…a nanny, while being sober?"

"Mr. Weasley," Snape said, "you cannot be drunk and play games with small children; something could happen, even if it might be humiliating."

Ron just stared at Snape like her had four eyes, instead of two.

"Nothing happened before," Hermione announced. "The one night, after a Quidditch match, in our seventh year, Ron got drunk off of his rocker. All the guys dressed him up in a frilly pink dress an' had him announce his undying love for Filch."

"Ha-ha-ha," Ginny laughed, "that was _hilarious_!"

"And seeing since I was the only one sober," Hermione said.

"Unlike now," Ginny said.

"Since I was the only one sober, I had to guide him around the castle to Filch."

"And then," Ginny said, "Mrs. Norris appeared at the other end of the corridor, and we all started running for the hills."

The girls kept bringing up Harry and Ron's most embarrassing moments at Hogwarts, which was funny until the comments started to hit close to home. Hermione was just about to make a comment about Severus's reactions to Damien's words, when he stood up.

"Sorry to cut this short – but Hermione, I really think it's time to go."

"It's not _that _late," Ginny said.

"It's already passed eleven, and quite frankly, I don't even think that Hermione can walk a block."

"I can walk a block," Hermione said, while trying to stand up, only to have Snape quickly grab her shoulders to prevent her from falling back onto the couch.

"We're going home," Snape informed Hermione.

"What?" She asked, as she was guided into the kitchen.

When Molly saw Snape's hands around Hermione's waist, guiding her through the kitchen, she thought something was wrong.

"Thank you Molly for the wonderful evening and the pleasant night, but I think that it's time for Hermione and I to return to Hogwarts."

"Oh, alright; what's the matter with Hermione?"

"She's had a little too much to drink," Severus said.

"How did she get a hold of that much alcohol? I thought I hid a greater portion if it?"

"Thank Ron," he said.

"I told that boy that he's not to drink any alcohol tonight! Well anyways, are you going to be flooing back?"

"Apparating; flooing will probably make Hermione sick. Hopefully, all the students will be in their dormitories tonight," Severus said.

"Bye Mrs. Weasley; thank you for inviting us," Hermione said goofily.

Once they were outside, Severus wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist and apparated them back to the castle. Little did he know, Hermione couldn't walk very far, so he would end up having to carry her back to the castle, while she fell asleep in his arms along the way.

**A/N: Again, sorry for the lack of updates, I had hardly any time to write or even get on the computer this past week. I know this chapter was shorter than the recent ones, but I thought that it was a good spot to cut it off. I know that I said there was going to be a little bit more Quidditch in this chapter, but I had to cut it out and place it in the next one, because I can get it to fit better. Well anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and thanks to everyone who read and reviewed so far on this story; it's really appreciated.**


	19. Unspoken Words Finally Spoken

**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own any of the characters, places, or anything Harry Potter related, they all belong to J.K. Rowling. Oh, and I'm also not making any money off of this either.**

**Sorry this took so long to get out, but I think that this chapter is really worth the wait.**

**---**

Janie woke up at a quarter-to-seven the next morning to see the final cut for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. There were only a few people gathered around the bulletin board, so Janie decided to wait until they were all gone, fighting the urge to push them all out of the way.

When everybody was gone, Janie ran up to the board and ran her finger down the list.

_Keeper_: _Nick Carter - #4_

_Chasers_: _Mark Rhymer - #2 and Logan Price - #3_

_Seeker_: _Rebecca Marx - #13; Janie Snape - #7_

Janie didn't even bother reading the rest of the results, because she ran right up to her dormitory and flung open the door.

"Lyss! Lyss! Wake up!" Janie exclaimed, earning a moan and a pillow thrown at her from her other roommates.

"What?" She asked tiredly, looking at the clock and then put the pillow over her face.

"I made the team!"

"You _what_?" Lyss asked, sitting straight up, the pillow falling onto the floor.

"I made the back-up Seeker! Wait – I didn't know that a team needed a back-up seeker."

"Gryffindor has, ever since that Marx girl came. She's really good, but she also is really accident-prone; you're guaranteed to play in _at least_ on game this year. She always finds a way to get hurt right before or during the beginning of the match; it has happened every single year since she's been on the team; Nick rants about it all the time."

"Oh, no wonder why her number is thirteen," Janie said. "Well, sorry I woke you up; I'll let you go back to sleep. Besides, now it's time for me to go and shock my parents," Janie said proudly.

On her way down to the dungeons, Janie met Scott coming up the stairs. Ever since the flying incident, he wouldn't make eye contact with Janie, or even look at her. Because of his actions, Janie was determined to find out what was wrong with the boy.

"Hey Narls," she said.

Scott's head popped up for a second, and then he looked back down again, quickening his pace up the stairs.

_Hmm, that's weird_.

Janie walked the rest of the way down to her parent's "secret" quarters, without running into anybody else. When she got there, she put her ear against the wall to hear if they were awake; nothing.

_Well_, Janie thought. _I'm not going to wait for them forever, so I guess I'll just have to wake them up_.

In a second, Janie was pounding hard on their door, with both of her fists.

"Mum…Dad! Hurry up; open the door!" She yelled.

When Severus heard his daughter pounding and screaming at the door, he jumped out of bed and ran out of his room, afraid that something bad had happened to his daughter.

When Hermione became aware of all the noise that Janie was making, she too jumped out of bed, sending all the blankets on the floor. She was immediately hit with a horrible headache and then tripped over her blankets and fell onto the floor. By the time Hermione had left her room, Severus was already opening the door.

_What is going on? _Janie thought. _Don't tell me that they're out _already; _it's only a little passed seven_.

"Mum – Dad, open-" Janie yelled and was about to hit the door again, but her father opened the door.

"Janie, what is going on?" He asked, as Janie walked right into the room, Severus shutting the door behind her.

Janie looked up at her parents, who were both in their pajamas and smiled.

"Oh, I'm sorry; did I wake you up?"

Hermione groaned and held her forehead with one of her hands.

"You're not bleeding," Severus said, looking around his daughter. "You're not bruised…no spells have seemed to hit you, you seem fine."

"I am fine," Janie said suspiciously.

"Then _why_ did you wake us up?"

"Long night?" Janie asked.

Hermione groaned again.

"Sorry for waking you up," Janie said, "but I've got to admit, that I have never seen _both_ my parents wear pajamas before; it helps to believe that kids aren't the only ones who wear them. But Dad, I'm not sure if you count, because you're not wearing a shirt – just pajama pants," Janie said, making Hermione's head snap up with a neck-breaking speed.

"Janie," Severus demanded, "what is so important that you felt the need to wake us up?"

"Sorry, I had to make sure both of you were up, before I told you, because I'm don't really feel like repeating myself; it's kind-of long."

"We were up," Severus said.

"Not Mum," Janie pointed at her mother. "She wasn't fully awake until I said that you weren't wearing a shirt-"

"Janie! What is it that you wanted to tell us?"

"Guess what! I made the Gryffindor Quidditch team!"

"What?" Severus asked, too shocked to say anything else.

"You what?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I didn't make a solid position, but I made replacement seeker; Lyss said that I'm guaranteed to play in at least one game, and I'm a first year too!"

When Janie finished explaining why she was guaranteed to play, Hermione walked over to the couch and plopped down on it, putting her head in her hands.

"And you know what? Even though I'm a replacement, I still get a uniform and a number! And guess what! I got Uncle Harry's old number! I overheard, well actually listened in on a conversation, when the Captain was discussing number assignments, and I found out that that number only gets passed down to players with real talent. And, that only one other person has worn it since Uncle Harry!"

"How special," her father said. "And Professor McGonagall approved that you could be on the team?"

"Umm, I dunno."

_That old bat probably did, just because she likes to torture me_, Severus thought.

"Well," Janie said. "Sorry again for waking you both up; I'm going to go and owl Uncle Harry, because he told me to keep him posted.

"Harry knew?" Hermione said from her position on the couch.

"Yeah; he even let me borrow his old broomstick. He said he would have bought me one, but you've always threatened him not to – so, he didn't."

"The only time he listens to me…" Hermione mumbled. "Owl your Uncle Ron, too."

A scowl popped up onto Janie's face, "Why?"

"Because, I'd bet that he would love to know," she replied.

"Oh…alright then," Janie sad, as she left her parent's quarters.

When Janie left, Severus went into his bedroom and returned with a vial in his hand. Sitting down next to Hermione on the couch, he pushed the vial into her hands.

"Here."

"What is it?" She asked.

"A hangover relief potion."

Hermione quickly uncorked the bottle and downed the potion.

"Thank you," she said, while handing him back the vial. "At least it didn't taste horrible."

"You would have drunk it anyways," he replied, setting the empty vial on the side table next to him.

Hermione yawned and stretched, deciding to make herself comfortable right against Severus. She closed her eyes with her back towards him, and was utterly shocked when Severus wrapped his arms around her.

An hour later, Dumbledore's head appeared in the fireplace, bearing a wide smile when he saw that the two people he needed to talk to were right in front of him. Severus had ended up somehow with his arms folded and his head tilted back on the couch, while Hermione was sitting next to him, curled up in a ball, with one leg resting across his knees. Unfortunately for Dumbledore, flooing isn't always silent.

"Stop your twinkling, old man; can't you see that I'm trying to sleep?"

Dumbledore chuckled and his head disappeared, leaving the fireplace, once again, empty.

Five minutes later, Dumbledore disabled all the wards and locks in the dungeons and walked right through the door to Snape and Hermione's quarters. Once he was inside, he waved his wand and brought back all the wards and locks.

Dumbledore walked over to the sleeping pair and woke Hermione up.

"Miss Granger," he said quietly, gently shaking her shoulder.

"Professor?" She asked groggily, while sitting up.

"Ssshhh, don't wake up Severus," he whispered.

Hermione looked confused.

"I hope you didn't forget that today is the first Hogsmeade weekend, Hermione."

"I might have momentarily forgotten," she said.

"Well, I suggest that you get ready while I wake up Severus."

Hermione nodded again and left the room. Right before she was going to get into the shower, she heard a loud bellow.

"DUMBLEDORE!"

When Hermione was ready, she walked out into the kitchen, where she found Severus sitting on one of the stools, drinking coffee.

"Good morning, Severus," she said cheerfully.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" He asked, not looking up from the paper that he was reading.

"Dumbledore told me not too," she replied, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Do you know what he did to me?" Snape asked, putting down his paper.

"Haven't got the slightest idea," she said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"He levitated me over into my shower, which I have no idea how he did it, without waking me up. Then, he proceeded to turn on the cold water and tell me that O was required to attend the Hogsmeade trip. I believe his exact words were, "So, now that you're up Severus, you'll be glad to know that you'll be spending your day in Hogsmeade; it is required, you know," he said, looking at Hermione, who was clenching her teeth down.

"What's the ma-" but Severus was cut off by Hermione's explosion of laughter.

"That wasn't funny," he seethed. "How about I wake you up by throwing you in an icy cold shower?"

Hermione was laughing so hard now, she was using the counter's edge as support, so she wouldn't fall onto the floor.

"You think it's that funny, do you?" Severus said, getting up from his seat.

"Wha- what are you doing?" Hermione asked, between laughing, but immediately stopped when Severus threw her over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" She repeated.

"Since you think its _so_ funny-"

"No! I just took a shower! Severus, put…me…down!" Hermione said, kicking her feet, but it only made his grip tighten around her.

"Well, you're going to take another one – a cold one-"

"With you?" Hermione asked hopefully, making Severus drop her on the couch, as they were passing it.

This proved to be a wrong move, because Hermione grabbed Snape by the collar on the way down, pulling him onto the couch, right on top of her.

---

"You're late," Professor McGonagall said, when Hermione and Snape entered the Entrance Hall, side-by-side.

"So?" He asked. "Dumbledore's the one who woke me up late."

"Severus," McGonagall said, "it's your responsibility as the Head of Slytherin to go to the first Hogsmeade weekend; you do it every year!"

"Well, maybe I had more pressing matters to attend to," he said.

"I thought you said Albus woke you up late," McGonagall countered.

"He did, but maybe I was involved in something else before I had to come up here," Snape said, starting to get a little cocky.

"Alright," Hermione said, grabbing Severus's arm. "The students have already started leaving-"

"But the Headmaster isn't even here yet!" McGonagall said.

"Ha! So we're not really late!" Severus said, as Hermione dragged him out the door.

---

By the time Dumbledore and McGonagall left the school, the heard of students were almost gone in the distance. The only objects that were visible were two figures, walking slowly next to each other.

"Ah," Dumbledore said, "I see that everything is working well," he motioned towards the two figures in front of him. "Hmm…I wonder…"

"No Albus; no more meddling –you're getting too involved. Can't you just let them be for a little while, without you 'pushing them in the right direction'?" McGonagall said.

"All they need is a little push in the right direc-"

"There you go again with the 'right direction'. I supported you, because I thought it was a good idea. But, I'm warning you; you might just push them a little too far one day. I mean, yes the dinner was a good idea, but sending them to the place where your nephew is a waiter, and having them sit where his area is – if Severus ever finds out…"

"Yes, I know I'll probably be down a staff member, or even have to repair the entire potions classroom-"

"Oh, he won't leave; not while Hermione's here," the Head of Gryffindor said. "But, I can't guarantee that you're going to have a very happy castle until the winter break arrives."

Dumbledore nodded and was quiet for several moments.

"So, how did our Ms. Snape come to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" He asked, earning a smile from the elderly woman.

"Mr. Rhymer came up to my office last night with the list of the new team. He claimed that everybody thought that Janie was a second year, home schooled by Severus and Hermione. He later told me that they found out that wasn't the truth, yesterday evening.

"He then proceeded to tell me about how good she is and eventually ended up persuading me to let her on the team. Besides, now it's going to kill Severus to watch his daughter play on the _Gryffindor_ Quidditch team."

"That'll be interesting to see," Dumbledore said. "It was always a pleasure to watch the house rivalry between the two of you."

"Well, it's always nice to find a way to annoy him," McGonagall said.

---

I can't believe that I have to spend my day, chaperoning dunderheads," Severus complained, once they were inside Hogsmeade.

"You really don't mean that; they're not _all_ dunderheads," Hermione said.

"A majority of them are," he countered.

"I think you need a drink," Hermione said, pulling him into the Three Broomsticks.

Once inside, Hermione ordered them both a butterbeer.

"I thought you said that I needed a drink," Severus asked.

"I did, but it's too early for a drink right now," Hermione said, taking her drink and giving one to Severus.

"Where are you going?" He asked when he saw Hermione heading towards the door.

"I don't want to sit in here now; I'm going outside. When the glasses are empty, they're charmed to come right back to the pub," she said, leaving the pub.

They walked up and down the streets of Hogsmeade, drinking their butterbeers. Hermione choked on hers when she saw that the three students had charmed birds to act like paper airplanes and found it fun to aim them at each other. Severus watched in amusement as Hermione yelled at the boys and took away house points.

When they were done with their drinks, Hermione decided that she wanted to go into Honeydukes.

"C'mon Severus, you know you like chocolate," Hermione said.

"I think I'll take a pass," he said.

"Please?" Hermione said, giving him one of her puppy dog pouts.

"Hermione, that store is going to be crawling with students."

"Not when they see you; now let's go Severus," she said and started to walk off in the direction of the sweet shop.

When Severus entered the candy shop, many students, mainly the younger one and Gryffindors, fled from the shop.

"Better?" Hermione asked.

Severus shot her a quick glare that would make many first years tremble in their seats.

"Don't glare at me like that, Severus; I know that you want chocolate."

"No I don't."

"Then who ate my box of chocolate-covered cherries?"

"No idea."

Hermione gave Severus an all-knowing look, "Were they sweet?"

_Just like you_, he thought.

"Yes," he said with a small smirk.

Walking up and down the isles of the shop, Hermione took great pleasure in filling Severus's arms up with boxes of chocolate.

"And two boxes of chocolate-covered cherries – you're not going to eat mine again. Now let's see…I know you like dark chocolate," she said, putting yet another box on top of the three others, "and I love mints-"

"Hermione, how are we going to eat all this?"

"You'll be surprised; I just so happened to be addicted to chocolate, that's why I never buy any."

"And yet…"

"Well, I have a taste for it now," she said, making her last round, up and down the isles. "Alright, I think that we're pretty much done in here," she said, while walking up towards the counter, grabbing a flying chocolate bludger for Janie on the way.

When Severus arrived at the counter, he dumped the five boxes of chocolate on the counter, along with the chocolate bludger, getting a raised eyebrow, which he returned. After Severus had paid for everything, much to Hermione's protests, he had the bags sent back to Hogwarts, because he didn't want to carry them all day.

Once outside the shop, Severus found himself asking, "Where next?"

Hermione looked around and shrugged.

"Let's just walk around; we do need to keep an eye on the students, you know," Hermione said, making Severus groan.

"Speak for yourself; I'm not the one who wanted to go into the candy shop," Severus said, earning a glare from Hermione.

They walked around the small town, while Hermione dragged Severus into several different shops along the way, using the excuse each time that, "Students could be causing trouble inside, and we may never know." Of course, there were hardly any students in there, and they weren't causing any trouble. The only shop that they agreed on going into was the Quill shop. Severus had once again, found himself low on red ink, making Hermione suggest that he buy out all the red ink in the entire shop.

On there way out to the clearing near the Shrieking Shack, they ran into two Gryffindors, sitting on a bench.

"He didn't show you that, did he?" One of the boys asked.

"Yeah," Damien said. "Zeek does a lot of that."

"Malfoy?"

"Yeah," Damien said, "I met him at a Quidditch match over the summer and now, we keep in touch."

The other boy looked like he was going to say something else, but Anne came out of the shop, but her bags down next to the bench, and then rested her head on Damien's shoulder.

Severus started to quicken his pace over towards them, but Hermione reached out and grabbed his sleeve before anybody noticed his presence. She then grabbed a hold of his hand, to prevent him from doing or saying anything stupid. But, as they were passing, Hermione relinquished the hold on his hand to see what he would do.

Severus looked out of the corner of his eye and said, "Ms. Finnegan, maybe if you weren't busy at night with your boyfriend, you'd be able to stay awake during the day."

For once in his lifetime, Damien didn't know what to say; the two teens just stared at their Professor with open mouths, while this other boy looked at them in awe.

"Is _that_ what you do when you're not in the dormitory at night? And to think, I always thought you were doing your rounds-"

When Severus and Hermione were out of the Gryffindor's view, Hermione rounded on Snape and glared at him.

"That wasn't very nice, Severus," she said.

"I'm not always the nicest person, Hermione," he said, crossing his arms.

"Yes, you're _not_ the nicest person," she said, pointing her finger accusingly at his chest.

"You're a Slytherin, you're…you're rude, you're snarky, an unbelievable basterd, but…you're growing on me," Hermione said, walking around in circles, her hands gesturing above her head; Snape just stood, rooted to his spot, watching in shock.

"It's all so complicated! You used to be Snape, the cold and heartless basterd of the dungeons, but you're nothing like that façade; you're the man who has made me endure countless sleepless nights, dreaming about you. You're protective, caring, and strong; you're always there whenever somebody needs you – whatever the cause. Your glares used to send shivers down my spine…and now, your smiles melt my heart. I used to think that all this was unbelievable at first, but then I realized that it does exist, and that you're standing right in front of me…right in my reach.

"What I'm trying to say is…that I love you, Severus. Why do you think I always fall asleep on the couch? It's to be by you, and I don't want the only reason as to why were together, is because we have a child – and I don't know if I could take it, if that were the ca-"

"Hermione, stop," Severus said, with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

Hermione stopped and looked up at hit; hurt, love, and confusion all shown in her eyes, a single tear silently rolling down her cheek.

Her eyes traveled down towards his hands; one came up and gently wiped the tear off her cheek, while his other hand came up and cupped the other side. Severus then lowered his head and kissed her passionately on the lips.

"Does that answer your question for you?"

"I love you, Severus."

Severus linked his hand with Hermione's, "I love you too, Hermione."

---

Hermione had been utterly shocked that Severus had admitted that he loved her too. She had only ever heard him say those three words a few times, and none of them were ever recent.

They were now walking back into Hogsmeade, glad that the students were finally going back to school.

"Wait a second…Severus!"

"What?"

"Can we go in there, please?" Hermione asked, motioning towards a candle shop.

Snape looked from Hermione's face, which held a wide smile, to the shop.

"Alright," he said, but immediately regretted the decision as soon as he walked in, because he almost choked on the smell.

Severus followed Hermione around the shop, while she tried to get him to smell all the different candles that she wanted to buy. Not only did he not want to smell candles that he couldn't pronounce the names of (and he was a Potions Master); it was also terribly hot inside the small shop.

"Smell this one, its violet," Hermione said, sticking the candle underneath his nose.

"How can a color smell?" He asked, pushing the candle away from underneath his nose.

"It's a flower, Severus."

Fifteen minutes later, Hermione was ready with an armful of candles. She bought them, after sending Severus outside, because he tried to pay for them again, and had her purchases sent to Hogwarts.

When Hermione left the shop, she found Severus at the end of the shop, facing an alley entrance.

"Alright, I'm all done," she said.

Severus nodded his head.

"Severus, what's the matter?"

"They're here…"

"Who's-"

"Ah, Hermione…Severus! What a pleasure seeing you two here; we thought you had left with the students!"

Hermione spun around and came face-to-face with McGonagall and Dumbledore.

"Albus, Minerva; what…a pleasure to see the both of you here," Hermione said as Severus groaned (only loud enough for her to hear, though) and turned around.

"I'm shocked," McGonagall said, "that you of all people, Severus, would stay in Hogsmeade, after a student trip."

"Now Minerva, let's not question the boy," Dumbledore said. "You two have a nice evening, now," he finished and started walking towards the end of Hogsmeade, which Severus and Hermione did not see, because as soon as they turned around, they turned around and walked away.

When they put enough distance between each other, Severus stopped and leaned against a building, his arms crossed and his brow furrowed, "Unbelievable; treating me like I was still his student…"

"Aw, I thought it was kind-of cute," she said.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"It's cute to see how he treats you just he would his son."

Severus hmfphed as they started walking again.

A few minutes later, Hermione announced that she was hungry.

"Well," Severus said, "the way I see it, you have two choices. One- we go back to Hogwarts, eat dinner with everyone else, and then return to our quarters to grade papers, _or_ choice number two; you can spend time with me and go out for dinner, returning when God only knows when," he said, leaning against the wall and folding his arms across his chest.

"Hmm," Hermione said, putting her finger quizzically on her lips, "let me think; it's such a tough decision," she said, sarcasm evident in her voice.

"If I were you, I'd go with number two," Severus said with raised eyebrows.

"Number two? Yes, that does seem like an appealing choice to pick, although I might miss Minerva's account about Hogsmeade, and she's just _bound_ to mention us…but, I think I'm going to go with number two," she said teasingly, with a little playfulness added in.

"I think you've made the right choice," he replied silkily.

"You do?" She asked, putting her hands on his shoulders and reaching up to place a quick kiss on his jawbone.

"Yes, definitely," he growled.

Five minutes later, Hermione and Severus walked into a small restaurant, a little ways outside of Hogsmeade. When they entered, their presence caught the attention of two people.

"Minerva – look who just walked in," Dumbledore said to his friend, his eyes twinkling.

"No, Albus; just let them enjoy their _own_ dinner," she said.

"But wouldn't it be-"

"No, you re not going to ruin their evening."

To get McGonagall to think that she had won, Dumbledore pretended to sigh in "defeat," and ordered another drink. Five minutes later, he got up, his drink in hand.

"And where do you thing you're going?" The old witch asked.

"To the bathroom and then to the bar, to refill my drink," he answered casually.

"If you're not back in five minutes, your portrait will soon be hanging in my new office."

"Now, now Minerva; I'll be back, don't worry," he said reassuringly.

When he got up, McGonagall called the waiter over and asked him where the bathrooms were. He in turn, pointed in the opposite direction in which Dumbledore had gone.

---

"So, do you think that I deserve a drink yet?" Severus asked, as he sat down in one of the booths.

"I think you might have earned yourself one," she said, sitting in the booth opposite of him.

After they ordered their drinks, they began talking about potions. Hermione was just about to ask him about her lab, when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

"No…it can't be…"

"Who is it this time?" He asked, annoyed at yet another disruption, during another dinner.

"Dumbledore," she hissed, "and he's coming over-"

"Severus…Hermione! What a pleasure seeing you two here," he said, cheerfully.

"Unbelievable," Severus muttered under his breath, his eyes catching the empty liquor glass that Dumbledore was trying to hide.

"Would you two mind if I joined you for a few minutes?" The old wizard asked politely.

"Umm, sure," Hermione replied and Dumbledore sat down next to Severus.

"No Albus, can't you see that we're-"

"Oh, don't worry, Severus; Minerva will have my head if I'm not back soon."

"She's here _too_?" He asked.

"Yes, m' boy and for some reason, she didn't want me coming over here. So anyways, how was your first Hogsmeade weekend?"

_Nothing short of wonderful_, Severus thought to himself.

"What is my response to every one that I am forced to endure?" He said, earning himself a disapproving look from Hermione.

"So, how was your first Hogsmeade visit of the school year, Hermione?" Dumbledore asked, turning in his seat so that he now faced her.

"It was quite pleasant, thank you," she replied politely.

"Did you get anything from that candle shop that you were outside of?"

"Oh yes; Severus and I had found some very nice candles," Hermione said, shooting Severus and amused look, who scowled right back.

Their attention was shifted however, by a choking noise coming from behind them.

"Hermione – you got _Severus_, to go into a candle shop?" The voice from behind them asked incredulously.

"Minerva," Severus hissed.

"Albus," the old witch said, "what did I tell you before you left?"

"Nothing that I recall," he said.

"You are unbelievable, you do know that, don't you," McGonagall said to Dumbledore.

As soon as he said this, Hermione mouthed to Severus, "Sounds like _somebody_ I know," which earned her a pair of narrowed black eyes.

"Now, now Minerva, come and sit down for a few minutes; I'm sure Severus and Hermione won't mind too much."

"Actually-" Severus began, but Hermione kicked him form under the table.

"A few minutes wouldn't be so bad," Hermione said with a smile.

"Oh alright…if you say so," McGonagall said, sitting down next to Hermione.

Forty-five minutes later…

"So, since he did that, I sent him an entire truckload of wool socks; he hates those things, said they're too itchy," Dumbledore said, making Severus roll his eyes.

"Why would you send him a truckload?" McGonagall asked.

Severus ran his hand over his face and was about to groan, when Hermione stepped on his foot, giving him a look that challenged him to go ahead and do it.

Instead of groaning out loud, Severus did it using legilimency, earning narrowed eyes from Hermione.

"_What?_ _It wasn't like it was out loud_," he thought with a smirk.

"_It's pretty rude to have a conversation while using legilimency, while Dumbledore's talking_."

"_And it was pretty rude of Dumbledore to ruin _our _night out_," Severus thought.

"_The night isn't over yet, Severus_, _and I am not going back to Hogwarts when we leave this place…if we ever leave this place_."

"_And what are you suggesting that we do then_," he thought, raising an eyebrow.

"_I don't know, go for a walk?_"

"_And where are you proposing we walk?_"

"_Around here, by Hogwarts; we can apparate, you know,_" she pointed out.

"_Yes, I know; but where do you want to go, Hermione?_"

"_How about…Italy?_"

"_Italy? Why Italy?_"

"_Because I heard that it's beautiful there at night – not to mention romantic_."

"_If you wanted to go to Italy, you should have told me earlier_-"

"_Having a nice conversation?_" Dumbledore's voice said.

"_How long have you been listening?_" Hermione thought slowly.

"_Not too long_. _I just popped in to tell you two that it's about time for Minerva and I to start heading back to Hogwarts now. We had a wonderful evening, thank you_.

"_Why didn't you just speak to us?_" Severus thought.

"I thought it would be much more interesting," Dumbledore said aloud. "Besides, I wanted to see what was so important that you two decided to tune out my socks," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Well, you two have fun now," Dumbledore said, as he and Minerva got up and left.

"I can't believe him," Severus said, shaking his head, when the two were safely out of the restaurant.

"I know. So, what are we going to do now?" She asked, her eyes sparkling.

"If you wanted to go to Italy, you could have told me earlier," he said, crossing his arms.

"Why? We can just apparate over there."

"We can't go there now – it's too late to do that."

"It's not _that_ late – it's only around 8:15; which isn't very late."

"So, you're saying that you're going to go to Italy, for only a few hours?"

"Yes."

"Where exactly do you want to go in Italy?" He asked, hoping that she wouldn't name that one city…

"Rome."

Too late.

_Perfect_;_ she wants to go to the city of love_, he thought to himself.

"I want to go to Greece too, one day."

"You want to go everywhere," he replied.

"That's because I couldn't bring Janie with me," she said as they left the shop and headed back to a spot right outside of Hogsmeade, when Severus stopped.

"Hermione, wait a second," he said.

"What-" Hermione stopped when Severus wrapped one arm around her waist and covered her eyes with his other hand.

"Hold on," he said, and they disappeared with a "pop."

---

Before Severus took his hand away from her eyes, Hermione could feel a breeze playing with her hair.

"Severus, where are we-" Hermione gasped.

When Hermione was able to open her eyes, the view astounded her. Severus had apparated them to a rooftop that over looked a beautiful town. The light dimly lit the outside restaurant and it's customers below, while soft music played from below. Hermione's eyes went wide and gasped when her eyes landed on a beautiful fountain in the distance; she knew exactly where Severus had brought them.

"We're in…" she said, turning around to face Severus, who was looking at the sky.

"Rome," Severus said softly, slowly bringing his head down to look at Hermione.

Hermione looked up at the sky, and her eyes went wide.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"Just like you," he whispered, bringing a wide smile to Hermione's face.

They gazed at the stars for a few more minutes, until Severus lead her down from the roof and onto the sidewalk. On their way down, Severus had asked Hermione if Janie liked stars.

"She loves them," she replied, "she knows a lot of the constellations, but her favorite is the Big Dipper."

"Please don't tell me that she also tries to tell the future by looking at the stars," Severus said, as they walked onto the sidewalk.

Hermione laughed, "No; she only knows where to find them, what their names are, and she might be able to tell you the history about a few of them. Last year, thank God it was only for a few months, she became addicted to muggle horoscopes; she would run around the house, telling everybody what might happen to them over the week. She doesn't care too much for Divination, though – it's potions that she loves."

"Really now?" He asked, amused.

"Since I couldn't teach her any spells, we brewed potions together; she's been brewing for nearly four years now. At first she started out with just the basic household potions, but now, she's been brewing potions out of the third year textbook."

"Interesting," Severus said, but inside, he was swelling with pride, because his daughter was already above the first years, probably all of the second years, and sadly, most of the third years, too.

"One of the more interesting accidents she had was when she added too many grasshoppers to one potions that we were making, and it exploded right in my face."

"Which potion was it?" He asked.

"Just a regular potion – nothing harmful, or anything," she said.

"'Nothing harmful or anything-' you were brewing Veritaserum in a muggle neighborhood. I think we might have different views on what is dangerous," he said.

Hermione mumbled the name of the potion that she was brewing, which made Severus stop.

"What did you need that potion for?" He asked.

"Who said it was for me?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Unimportant – it's fine now," she said and started walking again.

When Severus caught up with Hermione, she slipped her hand into his and started to tell him about Janie when she was little. Throughout the entire time, Severus was oddly quiet. Sensing that something was wrong, and having a feeling that she knew what it was, Hermione decided to mention that she had something at home.

"You know Severus; I have films of Janie from when she was younger. When we have some free time, I can bring them to Hogwarts, or we could just go over to watch them; it really doesn't matter," she said.

He nodded.

"Severus, what's the matter?"

He didn't say anything, just remained silent.

"I'm really sorry, Severus. Are you mad?"

"No."

"Then what's the matter?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking," he replied. "Now, let's go and enjoy the rest of our night, before Dumbledore decides that he wants to put a tracker on his staff members."

Hermione giggled, "Yes, I suppose you're right. Now, let's go see that fountain, and I also hear that there's sea nearby," she said, pulling Severus by the hand, in the direction of the fountain.

---

When they reached the fountain, Hermione looked at it in amazement.

"Wow, so this is the Trevvy Fountain," she said. "I can see why people come all over the world to see it," she paused. "We can throw coins in it, right? I mean, out money?"

"Yes," he said.

"But what if muggles find them?" She asked.

"The fountain has a concealment charm on it; any money that we throw in won't appear like it does for us. As for muggles finding them, once they come into their possession, the coins disappear. They can't say anything about it, because then they would get caught stealing," Severus said.

"Genius," Hermione said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a galleon. "Severus," she said, "you've got to do it too."

Rolling his eyes, he also pulled out a galleon.

"Now," Hermione said, "close your eyes, make a wish, and throw the coin into the fountain."

Severus did as Hermione had instructed him, even though he already knew how to make a wish by throwing a coin into a fountain. Hermione studied the fountain for a few more minutes and then turned back to Severus.

"Can we come back here, one day?" She asked.

"One day," he said.

Hermione nodded, "Good. Now, I heard that there's a sea nearby and I want to go see it."

"But don't you think that it's getting a little chilly to go walking by water?" He asked.

"Umm, no," she replied.

"Don't complain about the cold then," he said, following Hermione, who made a beeline for the nearest alley.

When Hermione had finally stopped, she grabbed Severus's sleeve and disappeared with a "pop."

They appeared again in another alley and Hermione made another beeline, but this time, it was straight towards the Mediterranean Sea.

When Hermione had reached the sand, she immediately took her shoes and socks off, shrunk them, and stuck them inside her pocket.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked.

"How can you walk on a beach, in shoes; you'll get the sand in your socks and shoes. Besides, I can't walk in the water with my shoes on," she told him.

"You're going to go into the water?" He asked.

"Just my feet," she said, pulling Severus towards the water, which was gently lapsing up onto the sand.

They walked hand-in-hand along the water, Hermione's feet sloshing through the water and sand.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked when Hermione started to pull him into the water next to her.

"Walking in the water," she said innocently.

"You're almost up to your knees in water," he pointed out.

"Yes, I know," she said, pulling him in farther.

"Aren't you cold?" He asked.

"Just a little," she answered.

"Then why don't you get out?"

"Then why don't you come in?" She asked, pulling him hard and into the water.

"There," she said, "now we can be cold together."

"Hermione," he gasped when he came up for air, "what are you doing?"

"Having fun," she replied, continuing farther into the water.

"Having fun? It's-" but he was cut off when Hermione splashed him.

"C'mon Severus, have some fu-" Hermione stopped when water was splashed into her face.

When she was able to see again, she saw a smirking Severus.

"You think that was funny, do you?" Hermione asked, moving over towards him.

"The look on your face alone was priceless," he admitted.

"Alright then; let's see if _your_ face is funny after I do this," Hermione said, throwing herself up onto Severus's shoulders and then dunked him underwater.

When he came back up, he was holding Hermione onto his shoulders.

"Ha-ha-ha," Hermione laughed, "that was funny."

"And so is this," he said, tossing Hermione into the water.

"Severus!" She yelled, her arms flying through the air, like she was trying to grab onto something.

Severus was actually chuckling now, but immediately stopped when Hermione didn't resurface within seconds. He quickly waded over to where Hermione had landed and searched around for her.

When she still didn't come back up, he went underwater to look for her, but still couldn't find her.

"Hermione," he said, once he came up, "it's not funny anymore. Hermione? C'mon Hermione!"

He suddenly froze however, when he felt water rush passed his legs. Severus dove back underwater, hoping to find her, but…nothing. When he came back up, he didn't even have enough time to turn around before-

"Severus!" Hermione yelled, jumping out of the water and onto his back.

"My God Hermione, you almost gave me a heart attack! I didn't know where you were, or what had happened; if you were hurt, it would have been my fault. I'm-" Severus was about to apologize for what was probably the first real sincere time in his life, but instead, Hermione swung around and silenced him with a kiss.

"It was never your fault," she said, "it was mine. I've gotta admit though, I wish I had a camera."

"But I threw you," he said.

"And I decided to get you back. You know, I sure do love magic," she said, enthusiastically.

"You used magic, to get me back?"

"Not just magic," she said smiling.

"'Not just magic'," he repeated, pulling out his wand and flicked it in front of him. "Hey Hermione?"

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Look behind you."

"Wha-" she asked, turning around, just in time to see a large wave headed straight their way.

"Oh my gods; Severus!" She yelled, jumping down from him and started to make her way towards the shore.

"It's just water-" Severus laughed, but stopped when the wave came by him and knocked him right off of his feet.

Hermione turned to find Severus nowhere in sight and a wave headed right towards her. Knowing that she didn't have a chance of making it out of the water in time, Hermione ducked underneath the surface, only to get carried away.

The wave threw Hermione up onto the shore first, followed by Severus, who were both now extremely close in proximity to each other.

"Ugg; now I'm going to have sand in my hair," Hermione said. "Wait – Severus, what are you doing on top of me?"

He didn't respond.

"Severus? Severus, answer me!" She said, pushing him off of her.

When she looked up at him, she noticed something that she had never actually seen before; he was laughing.

Hermione hit his shoulder, "You could have at least answered me," she said.

"And take away the fun?"

"What fun? Do you know how long it's going to take me to get all of this sand out of my hair?" She said, sitting up.

"Calm down; just use a spell," he said.

"Well, do you know any spells?" She asked.

"I might," he said, also sitting up.

"Like what?"

"Like this," he said, pulling out his wand and flicked it again.

"The sands still in my hair, Severus," she said, running a hand through it.

"You'll see," he said.

"Severus!" Hermione shrieked when a wave appeared right in front of them.

Instead of getting up, Hermione turned around and buried her head in the crook of Severus's neck.

"I can't believe that you would do that again!" She said, but her words were muffled against Severus's cloak.

Right before the wave crashed into the pair, Severus wrapped his arms around Hermione, and put his head down, in the empty space between his arm and Hermione. When the wave had hit, he heard Hermione groan.

"Sand all gone?" He asked smirking, after the wave had soaked them again.

Hermione glared at him, "Yes, thanks Severus," she said sarcastically.

Severus got up and then helped her to her feet.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah," Hermione replied sadly, taking one last look at the sea.

"Alright then, hold on," he said, wrapping an arm around her, looked around for people, and then apparated back to Hogwarts.

---

A week quickly came and passed for the castle, leading straight to the first Quidditch match of the year; Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. There was no doubt that everyone on the Gryffindor Quidditch team was angry, because all of their opening season games, were usually always against Slytherin.

On their way down to the stands, Hermione complained about McGonagall letting Janie on the team, even if she might not play. Hermione had badgered McGonagall and Severus all morning, until they finally took their seats in the staff's stand. Now, Hermione sat right next to Severus, and right behind Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"You know Severus," McGonagall said, turning around, "you don't have to be here; it's not like Slytherin's playing or anything."

"But my daughter's on the Gryffindor team," Severus replied, saying the word "Gryffindor" with gritted teeth.

"Ah good; so you do know what team your daughter's on. So, who will you be rooting for this year; Slytherin…or Gryffindor?" McGonagall said casually.

"Minerva-" Severus said, through clenched teeth.

Hermione was about to say something in Severus's defense, but the announcer's boom filled the entire stadium.

"Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the year - Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw; even though we all wanted to see Slytherin out there today," the announcer, Lee Jordan's cousin, said.

"Justin!" McGonagall yelled. "What did I say about that?"

"As I was saying, the first match is about to get under way…oh, and here comes the Gryffindors! Chasers Rhymer and Price; Beaters Weasley and Michaels, followed by the Keeper, Carter and then the Seekers, Marx and Snape. That's right folks, I said Janie Snape. Let's see what she can do playing Quidditch; I heard that she can really pack a punch."

"Jordan!" Severus barked.

"Er, sorry Professor," Justin said, turning around to glance at his Professor.

"Oh," McGonagall said, "so he apologizes to you."

"That's because he's scared of Severus, Minerva," Dumbledore said, making Severus scowl.

Fifteen minutes later, the crowd was up on their feet, as the beater on the Ravenclaw team hit a bludger over towards Gryffindor's seeker.

The entire Gryffindor team started yelling warnings at Rebecca, telling her to move out of the way, but she was too consumed in trying to catch the snitch.

One of the beaters tried to intervene with the bludger, while the other tried to warn the determined seeker. When Rebecca turned around to see if a bludger was actually headed towards her, it was too late.

She tried to maneuver our of the bludger's path, but it curved around and ripped off the end of her broomstick, sending her into one of the giant house flags, that was hanging on one of the stands. She fell down the flag and then out onto the field.

McGonagall rushed down from the stands and onto the field, joining the rest of the Gryffindor team, after they had called a timeout. After several minutes, the Captain of the Gryffindor team, emerged from the circle and walked off the field, and over towards the stands. He was shortly followed by McGonagall, who was levitating Rebecca off of the field.

When the Captain returned onto the field, Janie was following closely behind him, a broomstick in her hand.

By now, McGonagall had come back up, after making sure Madam Pomfrey could get her back to the castle safely.

When Hermione saw Janie step out and onto the field, her hand shot to Severus's knee and held it in a death grip.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" He asked, looking at her hand, and then at her face.

"Janie," she said, leaning in towards McGonagall's ear. "Minerva, how could you let her play; she's only a first year!" Hermione said.

"And she's a good first year, at that. Hermione, you should see her play; she's brilliant," the older witch replied.

"Yes, but she always gets hurt when she's on a broomstick," Hermione said.

"She didn't at practice or at tryouts," McGonagall pointed out.

"People that fall over and over again and keep rising up to meet the challenge, truly know what it takes to become all that they can be," Dumbledore said.

"So, everyone's fine with her playing?" Hermione asked, turning around to face Severus, "Severus?"

"Just let her play, Hermione," he said.

"See dear," McGonagall said, "listen to Severus."

Hermione was about to open her mouth, but Severus grabbed her shoulders and pulled her down under him, while Janie and the other seeker flew right over where their heads would have been.

"Thanks, Severus," she said, when she was able to sit back up.

"Always keep an eye on the game; I sometimes wonder if the snitch has a mind of its own, because it seems to love watching the staff duck at every game," he said, watching Janie and the other boy battle for the snitch.

The boy looked over at Janie and then at the snitch. Thinking it was a good idea, he bumped into Janie's side, hoping to set her off track, but Janie slammed into him even harder. When he went to do it again, Janie raised her broomstick and the Ravenclaw seeker went sideways, unable to control his broom.

Seeing her chance, Janie brought her broomstick back down and built up speed, trying to reach out for the snitch, when it made a sharp curve upwards.

Janie followed the snitch upwards, until it darted behind her. She quickly pulled the broom into a loop and caught the snitch, but it happened so fast, nobody really knew the game was over.

"Oh my gods, Severus! How is she not falling down; she's upside down for Merlin's sake!"

"Hermione, calm down," he said.

Still hanging upside down on the broom, her legs wrapped around the broomstick, and with one hand on it, she raised the snitch in her other hand and showed the crowd. When the Gryffindor side saw this, the stands exploded in cheers and the announcer's voice was heard once again.

"Janie Snape has caught the snitch; 150 points to Gryffindor, which brings the score to 230 to 60. GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

"So Severus," McGonagall said, "think your team could beat that?"

Severus rolled his eyes as the announcer kept talking.

"An amazing display by Janie; let's see you Slytherins beat that-"

"Justin!" McGonagall said.

"What? Professor, you just said that to Professor Snape a minute ago," he said, forgetting to turn the microphone off.

"Turn the microphone off!"

"Why? Because we all know that Slytherin doesn't stand a chance against us this year; no one does. I mean, if she can take out a seventh year, imagine what she could do on a-"

The microphone was immediately turned off by Severus, who slammed down the "off" switch with his hand.

Needless to say, Justin Jordan would be facing some angry Professors within the next couple of minutes.

After Janie had changed out of her playing robes and after the team had congratulated her, she made her way out of the locker room, trying to find Lyss and Matt. Instead of finding her two friends, she found Harry and Ron, standing at the forests' edge.

It had turned out that Harry and Ron had watched the entire Quidditch game, after persuading Dumbledore to let Ron back onto the Hogwarts' grounds. They congratulated her and then gave her a large box, that was neatly wrapped.

Despite the snitches that were buzzing around on the wrapping paper, Janie quickly tore off the paper and ripped the box open, revealing the newest broomstick, the Phoenix Feather 3000.

"Oh my-" Janie began, but was cut off by someone yelling.

"Janie!" Lyss yelled.

"That was excellent!" Matt said, but froze when he saw what Janie was holding. "That's – that's…that's the newest broomstick!" Matt practically spluttered.

"Uncle Harry, Uncle Ron…thank you so much!" Janie said, hugging them both.

After she hugged Ron, he spoke, "I'm really sorry Janie, for the way I've been acting."

"It's alright; if my mom could trust you again, then I guessed that you two had made up," Janie said.

"Well," Harry said, "enjoy your new broom."

"Yeah," Ron added. "Because now we have to go and tell your mother what we did, before she finds out. I don't think Snape will mind too much," he said to Harry, "but Hermione's gonna blow a gasket."

Janie laughed and when they were no longer visible, she turned around to find Scott Narls several feet in front of her, with his back turned towards her.

"Janie, no," Lyss said, "not now."

Janie ignored Lyss' comment and tapped Scott on the shoulder. He turned around, shock clearly evident on his face.

"Hey Narls," she said.

Scott looked around and then replied, looking down at the ground, "Hey Snape."

"Narls, why are you avoiding me?" She asked.

"I'm not avoiding you; you're a Gryffindor and I'm a Slytherin."

"So?" Janie asked, raising an eyebrow, "My mum's a Gryffindor, and we all know that my dad's a Slytherin; it shouldn't matter."

Scott shook his head and went to walk away, when his two friends came up behind him.

"Hey Scott, is Snape bothering you?"

"No," he said.

"C'mon Scott, it clearly looks like she's bothering you."

"She's not bothering me," Scott replied.

"Nobody's bothering him here, except maybe you two," Janie said.

"Janie, no," Matt whispered, putting a hand on her shoulder, trying to pull her away, but she shrugged it off.

"Watch it Snape," the one boy who had been talking said, "your father's not here to help you if you get into a fight this time.

"I'll watch it when you let Scott talk for himself," she said, "and I won't need my father; you'll be needing him to levitate you back to the hospital wing."

"Keep your nose of it Snape; at least it's not as big as your fathers."

"You'd better watch it; no one talks about my dad like that," she said, pointing at Scott's friend's chest, as the rest of the students started to empty out around the Quidditch pitch. The only people around, was a small group at the other end of the pitch, but they were too far away to make out who they were.

"If I can break the nose of a seventh year, just imagine what I could do to you," she said in a deadly tone.

"Yeah right; let's see it then," he said, making Janie try to lunge towards the boy, but Lyss and Matt grabbed her arms and held her back.

"Ooo, what are you going to do?" The boy taunted.

"Just wait," Janie said, "just you wait."

"Wait," Scott said, "isn't there a way that we can do this, without the use of violence?"

His friend seemed to consider this and finally said, "Fine, but only because I don't want to be sitting in detention with Filch…or Snape."

"Fine," Janie said. "Lyss and Matt, you can let go of me now."

When they released her, the boy made his proposal, "Halloween, that's when you'll do it."

"_Me_? What about _you_?" Janie asked, starting to get mad again.

"I'll believe that you're brave enough, if you prove it and stop making fun of Professor Snape, but, only if you successfully pull of scaring everyone at Halloween, with a prank that will go down in Hogwarts history. And, this prank cannot be anything out of any joke shop," he said, holding out his hand.

"No Janie, don't do it," Lyss said.

Janie bit the bottom of her lip and looked between Lyss and Matt and then stuck out her hand, "Deal," she said.

**A/N: Like I said, I hope that this chapter was worth the wait. It's by far the longest one so far, I actually hope that nobody minds it being this long. There's some things that I want to say, but I don't know if I'll cover them all. About Matt and Lyss' brother, Nick, I had no idea that he would share the name with a Backstreet Boy, until I actually wrote this (I didn't do it purposely). And I'm sorry if I didn't get the Quidditch team exactly right. I hope everyone's not too mad that I didn't do the match against Slytherin, but trust me, there's a good reason for that. Anyways, thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing!**

23


	20. Pandemonium at Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything Harry Potter, not me. And I'm definitely not making any money off of this.**

---

Halloween was only two days away and Janie still needed to put the finishing touches on her prank. She had all the details worked out, but she didn't know how she could pull everything off, without Dumbledore relighting all the fires in the Great Hall. She had just sat down with another large book on wards and interfering spells, when Matt and Lyss came up behind her.

"Aren't you done yet?" Matt asked.

"Not yet," Janie said.

"What exactly are you going to do?" Lyss asked.

Janie looked around to make sure that no one was watching and cast _Muffliato_.

"Aw cool," Matt said, "Where'd you learn that one?"

"My dad," Janie said. "Hey, do either one of you know how to ward the lights in the Great Hall?"

"Lights? I thought they were candles," Lyss said.

"Whatever; they give off light, I just need to keep them out."

"Janie, what are you going to do on Halloween?" Lyss asked again.

"Well, for Halloween this year, Dumbledore is going to charm the ceiling to look like there's a thunderstorm outside – which is perfect for what I'm planning."

"How do you know that?" Matt asked, feeling as though he was left out on something.

"I have two Professors as parents, remember?" Janie asked. "Well anyways, since I need it to be dark, besides the occasional lightning flashes, I'm going to extinguish all the fireplaces and candles in the Great Hall with a spell that I found. But when they go out, Dumbledore will just relight them again…"

"Why don't you just use water," Matt suggested.

"To keep the wicks wet?" Janie asked, shutting the book, "That could work; especially if I can keep them wet long enough."

"Why are you so keen on keeping it dark, Janie?" Lyss asked.

"So what I have planned will work. You see, I have replicas of the Halloween decorations of the snakes and bats; I've charmed them, so that when I say the activation spell, they will act like the real animal would. Even though most of the bats are real, they're only charmed to fly above the students heads, mine'll fly anywhere."

"How are you going to get them into the Great Hall, without anybody knowing?" Matt asked.

"By switching them, of course. Sometime before they put the decorations up, I'm going to take the school's ones and then replace them with mine; I've already found out where they keep them. And then, to add onto the snakes and bats, I also found a litter of kittens outside last we-"

"You did, but I haven't seen any…wait a second! They're under your bed, aren't they? That's why you told everybody not to put anything-"Lyss exclaimed, but was cut off by an annoyed Janie.

"Yes, that's why nobody's allowed to put anything under the bed-"

"Ooo, how many are there?" She asked.

"Five – I have the mother cat too," she said.

"How'd you get six animals through the castle, without anybody knowing?" Matt asked.

"Hagrid, of course," Janie said. "He was going to keep the kittens, but then I said that I would find students to take care of them."

"Wait, how come nobody in our room has had any inkling that they were there?" Lyss asked.

"Spells and I take care of them between classes; it's amazing what you find in books," Janie replied.

Lyss nodded and then asked, "Can I have one?"

"After Halloween," Lyss said, "and don't tell anybody. The last thing I need is everybody knowing that I have a litter of kittens under my bed – everybody'll know that it was me who pulled the prank then."

"You're letting them lose in the Great Hall? How ever are you going to get them back?"

"I'm not going to leave them there, I'll find them, don't worry."

Matt and Lyss stayed and talked with Janie for a little while longer, leaving when there was only fifteen minutes left until curfew. Janie stayed, telling her friends that she needed to find a long-lasting water spell.

Ten minutes later, Janie was flipping through the pages of another rather large book, while taking notes when a figure walked through the door and stood behind her.

"Janie, why are you in the library, it's almost passed curfew," Severus asked.

Janie's head snapped up from the book she was reading and quickly shut the book.

"Just reading," she replied casually, pilling up all the books back onto the table.

"What were you reading?" He asked, observing the size of the books.

"Oh, I was just interested in learning a few new spells," she said.

"It's nearly past curfew," he said.

"It is?" Janie asked, her head flying up to look at the clock.

"Yes," her father said, making Janie try to quickly clean up her mess.

"Janie," he said, "don't worry about it."

"But, won't I get in trouble?"

"It's not passed curfew yet," he said. "In fact, if it will make you feel any better, I'll walk you back to your common room."

"So, I'm not in trouble?" She asked.

"No," Severus said. "Now, let's go before Filch comes along, or your mother; she just might sit in the library with you all night."

"Alright," Janie said, with a wide smile.

When they were out in the corridor, Severus thought it was the perfect time to ask his daughter something that he had been waiting to ask for weeks.

"Janie," he began, "are you friends with Mr. Narls?"

Janie raised an eyebrow, "Not really, why?"

"Because I saw you two after the first Quidditch match," he said.

Janie hesitated, "Oh."

"And I was just curious as to why you would make a deal with another student," he said casually.

"I wasn't making any deals, Dad; why would I do that?"

Severus just left it at that, knowing that there was something else that she wasn't telling him. After the Quidditch match, the Princes of the Dunderheads (Longbottom was their king), had cornered him and Hermione coming out of the Quidditch pitch. Hermione of course, had been overjoyed to see them, until they decided to tell her what they had gotten Janie.

Severus ignored his former students and started to watch a small group of students, when he noticed that among them, was his daughter. He considered going over there, when Janie lunged at the boy, but then decided against it; he wanted to see what his daughter was going to do. While watching Janie's interactions with the boys, he wondered why she wasn't put into Slytherin in the first place. His curiosity grew, along with shock, when Janie shook hands with the one boy, even after her friends were clearly shaking their heads "no."

"Well Dad, thanks for walking me back to my common room," Janie said, hugging him.

"Anytime; just try not to stay out late any more," he said, watching as the portrait closed shut behind her.

After Janie had disappeared, Severus turned around and walked back in the direction of the library.

---

When Janie walked back up to her dormitory, she was surprised to find her roommates and Lyss, cooing over a small kitten.

Janie rushed over and pulled Lyss aside.

"Lyss, what are you doing? I thought-"

"I know, I know, but I thought I'd just check on them, then the girls came in and found me playing with Tiger-"

"You already named one?" Janie asked.

"Well, he looks like a Tiger, so I named him like one," Lyss said.

"But now they're going to know that I let them lose-"

"Not if you don't release this one," her friend pointed out.

Janie seemed to consider this for a few moments and then caved in, "Alright fine; you can keep Tiger."

"Yes! Thank you Janie!" Lyss said, hugging her friend.

Janie left their dormitory in search of Matt when she heard Lyss yell, "No Emily; don't do that to Tiger!"

It turned out that Matt had gone to bed and Janie couldn't go and visit her parents, as it was already well passed curfew now. She couldn't do her homework, because it was all done, and she had already found both of her parent's planners last week, so she already had that homework done too. So now, the only thing left to do, was to go upstairs and listen to her friends get excited over a kitten.

---

The next day after class, found the trio in the library doing their homework, except Janie, who was finishing up her Halloween prank, before Quidditch practice.

After Janie was finally done with everything for Halloween, Matt and Lyss asked her if she needed any help. Lyss was more than happy to bring the kittens down into the Great Hall and Matt would provide a reason for Janie to suddenly disappear for a few seconds.

"Is that all?" Matt asked.

"So far, yeah," Janie said. "I was going to have me and you use a pair of walkie talkies, but we don't need them."

Matt looked at her weirdly, "Walkie talkies?"

"They're like the muggle version of speaking wands," Janie explained.

"Oh," Matt said. "Sorry if I don't know some of the things you talk about; we've only been to the muggle world a few times."

"Oh; then maybe you'd like to come over during the summer," Janie said.

"Don't get my wrong Janie, but doesn't your father live in the Wizarding world?"

"But my Mum-" Janie paused. "Well, you can still come over," she said.

Janie was quiet for the next few minutes; she had never really thought of what would happen when school was out; she didn't even know if her father even stayed at the school during break. Deciding to not let it bother her, she mentally pushed it to the back of her mind until later.

Janie excused herself a little while later and then dropped her things off in her dormitory, deciding to head down to her parent's quarters, needing to ask a last-minute question. Knocking at their door, she was surprised when her mother opened rather quickly.

"Hey Mum," Janie said as her mother stepped out into the hallway, looking in both directions, "expecting someone?"

"Just your father," she replied.

"Oh; where did he go?" Janie asked.

"Dumbledore wanted to see him," Hermione said. _Dumbledore ruins everything,_ she mentally added.

"Anything bad?" Janie asked.

"I…don't know," Hermione replied. "Do you want to come in?" She asked Janie, stepping back inside the doorway.

"No; I'm good," Janie said, looking behind her mother. "Candy, Mum?"

"Yes, well-"

"You only eat a lot of the mint flavor when you're worried," Janie said.

"Dumbledore always worries me," Hermione replied.

"Well anyways, I was just wondering when the Halloween decorations would be hung up," Janie asked casually.

"Why?"

"Because Lyss didn't believe it when I said that the good stuff wasn't put up until right before the feast, by the Professors."

"Well, the house elves put most of it up tonight, but the creatures, candles, skeletons, and most of the pumpkins go up an hour before the feast.

Janie nodded, "Thanks Mum; I'd better get going now."

_Hmm_, Hermione thought as she watched Janie disappear down the hall, _that was weird_._ She usually asks for any chocolate that I'm eating; either that or she'll just help herself_. Thinking back to her missing candy boxes, Hermione smiled, _Now I know where she gets it from_.

---

When Janie was almost to the dungeon stairs, she heard a voice and then hurried footsteps.

"Hey Janie, wait!"

Janie whirled around and was shocked that Scott Narls, the very boy who had been avoiding her, was now running up towards her.

"Hey Scott," she said cautiously, with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

"Alright, so talk," Janie said.

"No, not out here," he said. "Can we go…somewhere else?" He asked, looking around.

"Umm, sure," Janie said and lead him into the Potion's Classroom.

"Are we allowed to be in here when Professor Snape's not in here?" Scott asked, looking around the room.

"I don't think he'll mind too much, if I'm in here," she said, "and you're with me. It should be fine, I don't see a problem if we're just talking. Besides, if he comes in, we can just say that we were looking for him."

He nodded, "Alright."

"What did you want to talk to me about again," Janie asked, shutting the door almost all the way.

"Oh, it's about what happened after the Quidditch game," Scott said. "You know, you don't have to go through with whatever you're going to do tomorrow."

"And why are you so concerned?" Janie asked, folding her arms.

"Because, if it wasn't for me, then you wouldn't be getting into trouble," he said.

"That's if I get caught."

Down the corridor, Severus was walking back to his quarters, when he heard voices coming down the hallway, from _his _potion's classroom. When he was almost outside it, he froze, realizing who the voices belonged to and what they were talking about.

"Yeah, about it being your fault; you know it wouldn't have if you just talked to me."

Scott put his head down, "It was because of some stupid thing that my brother said."

"Which was?" Janie asked, motioning for him to continue.

"Well, ever since I was little, I was able to beat everybody while racing on a broomstick. Then one day, my brother decided to joke around and tell everybody that I would…marry the first girl who could ever beat me on a broomstick. And Janie, I really don't want to marry you right now," Scott said.

Janie laughed, "I'm not going to marry you over some stupid broomstick race. You actually thought that you would have to marry me, because you lost a race," Janie said, looking at Scott, whose face clearly shown that he had meant it.

He nodded.

"Well, you won't have to marry anybody, as long as your brother doesn't find out; you know, you don't have to tell him."

"But what if my friends tell him?" He asked.

"Why would they?"

"I dunno."

"Well, you're a Slytherin – find a way to blackmail them not too, if you're worried about it."

_Oh, that's nice_, Severus thought.

"Or just try to get them not to say anything; they'll probably just forget it anyways."

"Like what? They'll just find another way to get me back; as you said, we're in Slytherin."

"They might just leave you alone after tomorrow," she said.

"So, you're still going to go through with it then?" He asked.

"Yep," she replied instantly.

"You really don't have to," he said.

"Yes, I do. I shook hands; the bet is sealed and I'm not going to break it. Besides, I'm going to love seeing the looks on all of their faces; I have Creevy taking a picture of your two friends when the lights go back on."

Do you need any help?" Scott offered.

"Wow, _you're_ asking if you want to help me; are you sure you're a Slytherin?"

"Yeah, I just want to get them back. Are you sure that the hat placed _you_ in the right house?"

Janie shrugged, "I'm not going to know that until I actually know that. I'm set with the help part, thanks though."

"Umm, yeah. Well listen Janie, I've got to go and finish my potions essay; I wouldn't want that to be late now, would I?"

"Definitely not; oh, and while you're at it, you might want to write an essay on the uses of silver when mixed with monkswood."

_How'd she know that? The only way…Now why isn't she in Slytherin again?_ Severus thought to himself.

Scott looked confused for a few seconds and then said, "Oh, alright; thanks," and then silently left the classroom.

When Severus had heard that their conversation was coming to a close, he backed into the shadows and waited for Janie to come out. After Scott had left, Janie left a few seconds later, closing the door quietly behind her.

Severus came out of the shadows and stood against the wall with his arms folded, right behind his daughter. When Janie turned around, she froze right in her tracks.

"Do you want to tell me anything?" He asked.

"Mum's waiting for you," Janie said, pretending that she didn't just emerge from her father's potion's classroom.

"Anything else? Maybe, for example, why you were in my classroom?"

"I was looking for you," she said.

"And Mr. Narls?"

"He was looking for you too."

"Really now?" He drawled.

"Yeah; he needed to get the homework that's due tomorrow; he wasn't paying attention in class."

"But instead you gave him tomorrow's homework," he stated.

"That's tomorrow's homework?" Janie asked, pretending that she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Yes."

"Oh," Janie shrugged, "I had no idea. You know, Mum is waiting for you."

"You've told me already; have you been looking at my lesson plans?"

"Mum's already eaten an entire box of chocolate mints," Janie informed her father, "and she's probably on her second box by now."

"I know she likes chocolate, but what does that have anything to do with-"

"She only eats a lot of chocolate mints when she's worried"

"Worried?" Severus asked, more to himself than to Janie.

"She said that Dumbledore always makes her worry," Janie said as her father walked quickly down the corridor towards his quarters.

---

Ten minutes to curfew that night, Janie made her way out of Gryffindor Tower, with a backpack full of all her charmed snakes and bats. When she reached the "hidden" closet where everything was stored, she quickly entered and shut the door behind her.

Performing a quick _Lumos_, she began to switch all of the school's supplies with her own, putting her bats below the snakes. When she was done, Janie quietly extinguished the light from her wand and went back to her dormitory, hiding her backpack behind her headboard.

---

Classes had passed quickly the next day, which had left the trio in the Gryffindor common room.

"Janie," Matt said. "Don't you have to set up anything?"

"Nope; I did it all last night," she said.

"Why?"

"Because now it will seem to those Slytherin goons that I'm not going to go through with anything; they'll think that I chicken out. Besides, if everybody sees me doing what I normally do everyday, then nobody should expect anything."

"We could have helped you," Matt said.

"I didn't need it; besides, it's almost time to get ready now," Janie said, getting up and going up to her dormitory.

Fifteen minutes later, Lyss had the kittens tucked safely away in her school bag and Matt had a package that he "needed to mail, after the feast was over."

When everyone was finally seated in the Great Hall, Janie watched as many first years looked around the Hall in awe at the decorations.

The bats fluttered safely above everybody's heads, the snakes stayed wrapped around the torches, and the many skeletons lined the walls. Hundreds of pumpkins glowed from above, along with hundreds of other small candles. On the tables, confetti covered the orange and black table cloths that were currently waiting to be filled with food for the Halloween feast.

"Darn," Janie said, "I forgot about the spiders!"

"What spiders?" Lyss asked.

"The ones above your head," Matt pointed out.

Lyss looked up to see a spider hanging just inches above her head, making her jump out of her seat.

"Afraid of spiders?" Janie asked.

"Umm…" Lyss said, looking at the spider, "No…not really."

When Dumbledore stood up to begin his speech, Matt "accidentally" knocked over his box, which fell underneath the table.

"Darn; I knocked my box over again," Matt said annoyed.

"Don't worry Matt, its right by me; I'll get it for you," Janie volunteered, ducking underneath the table, while pulling out a small piece of parchment from inside her pocket.

Janie unfolded the paper and began reading the spells for the "creatures" first. Then, she pointed her wand towards the Great Hall's entrance and whispered another spell, shortly followed by another.

After the first spell was said, a gust of wind swept through the Great Hall and extinguished every flame in the Great Hall, making many students scream and staff gasp.

The second spell would prevent Dumbledore from relighting the candles anytime soon. After that, Janie crawled over to where the kittens were located and let them out of the bag. It was now dark enough in the Great Hall, to the point where you couldn't see your own hand in front of your face, except for the occasional flash of lightning.

Suddenly, Dumbledore's voice was heard over all of the student's yelling, "Please, please try to stay calm! No one is to leave the Great Hall!"

"Like anyone can see the way out!" Someone yelled, causing the pandemonium in the Great Hall to increase.

Dumbledore tried several more times to get the Hall to quiet down, but he was unsuccessful. He decided that after he couldn't relight the candles, that it seemed like the student that went to such great lengths to successfully pull off something like this, they should be able to enjoy it for a few minutes longer. After they got into trouble, he of course, was going to congratulate them on their well-thought of idea.

Now, students were yelling at each other about them trying to scare them from under the table, and the accused were accused were yelling back at how it wasn't them. Hearing everybody's arguments, the trio started to silently laugh. Two voices that could be heard clearly from the Slytherin table, made them laugh even harder.

"Scott, don't play footsie with me; it's just plain wrong."

"It's not me!" He replied, making the boy reach under the table and grab something furry.

"Oh my God!" The boy yelled, "There's a creature under the table!"

"Relax," Scott said, "It's probably just Mrs. Norris."

"Eww! I just touched Mrs. Norris!"

Even the staff table was experiencing something similar.

"Severus, was that you?" Hermione asked.

"Was what me?" He asked.

"Something just brushed up against my leg…"

"No, that wasn't me-"

The Hall went immediately quiet when an ear-piercing scream was emitted from Hermione, causing the Hall to burst out in noise again.

"Hermione?" Severus called, worry the main element in his voice.

"Oh my God! Severus, something just crawled – no, slithered up my leg! Eww! Get it off, get it off, get…it…off!" Hermione shrieked, trying to get rid of the snake by hitting it.

"Hermione, calm down," Severus said.

"It's slithering up my leg," she panicked, trying harder to free herself from the snake, when Severus heard a crash, followed by a louder boom, which wasn't thunder.

"Hermione?"

"Get it off!" She said, from her new position on the floor. "Hold on – where are you?"

"On the floor," she replied, after biting her bottom lip.

"What do you mean, you're on the floor?"

"I fell, now please…help me!"

"Alright, just calm down-"

"Calm down? Stop telling me to 'calm down'. How about I stick a snake down your pants and see how _you _like it…Oh wait, you alrea-"

"Hermione, what's the problem," McGonagall asked, getting up from her seat.

_She's been yelling ever since the light went out…The only woman's finally going senile_, Severus thought.

"Nothing wrong," Hermione whimpered.

"Oh; alright then," she said as Severus crouched over to look for Hermione.

As McGonagall was passing the pair, she accidentally kicked Severus in his gut, sending him downwards.

"Severus," Hermione gasped. "I asked you to get the snake – not fall on top of me-"

"Who'd I kick?" McGonagall asked.

Severus groaned.

"Oh, sorry Severus; I'm sure you'll get over it."

"Severus, since you're down here, could you please GET THE SNAKE?" Hermione said, frustrated.

"Why can't you get it?"

"I'm not touching it; what if it bites me?"

"What if it bites me?"

"You're man-"

"Thanks for stating the obvious-"

"This means you protect me and then you're a Potions Master – you can find a potion for almost anything."

"So, you want me to pull a snake out of your pants, in front of the Great Hall?"

"Just do it! Nobody's going to see anything; I can't even see your fac-" she stopped.

"What's the matter?"

"It's slithering again! Get it or you'll be locked out of your quarters," she said.

At about the same time, Severus had prayed for the lights to not go back on, while Dumbledore decided that the current situation had gone on long enough.

When the candles were re-lighted, all the students immediately looked up at Dumbledore and were shocked at the sight that they saw. Never mind the students who had somehow found themselves on the floor, the students laughing, or the flash of somebody taking a picture at the Slytherin table.

When Dumbledore turned around to see what all the students were gawking at, he was not at all pleased.

Hagrid had knocked over his half of the staff table, McGonagall was standing a few feet away from Severus and Hermione, innocently stroking a small kitten, and Professor Sinstra was holding a snake over where Snape's head would have been, if he were sitting down. Dumbledore's eyes then traveled to where Severus and Hermione were currently situated.

Hermione was under Severus, her hands on his shoulders, while his one hand was down her pants.

_Oh shit_, was the only thing that ran through Severus's mind as soon as the Great Hall was once again illuminated.

"Professors Sinstra, Snape, Granger, and McGonagall, in my office, _now_," Dumbledore said in a low, dangerous voice that dared anybody to question him. "And Hagrid, please fix that table."

When Janie saw the position that her parents were in, her jaw just about hit the floor. When Dumbledore turned around and all of the students saw the look on his face, no one dared to speak – not even the Gryffindors…or Damien.

Severus slowly pulled the "snake" off of Hermione's leg and held it up for her to see.

"I got it," he said, standing up and then helped Hermione to stand up.

"Thanks," Hermione whispered, blushing as she looked out at all the students.

"Oh, and I didn't forget what you were saying earlier, before McGonagall so rudely interrupted you," Severus said as the followed Professor McGonagall out the door.

"You do?" She asked, her eyes looking everywhere but his face.

"Yes," he replied with a glare, "it wasn't that hard to figure it out."

Once everybody was seated, Dumbledore began, "Your behavior in the Great Hall tonight was something that I expected from the students – never the staff."

He paced up and down the seats, stopping at his desk, where he sat down.

"Sinstra, I have never known a teacher that would dare…or be stupid enough to put a snake down Severus's shirt," the Headmaster said, making Severus shoot Sinstra and icy glare.

Dumbledore skipped over Severus and Hermione and went right to Minerva, "Where did you find the kitten, Minerva?"

"Under the staff table," she said.

"And do you know how it got there? Cats usually don't wander freely around the Great Hall."

"No," she replied, stroking the kitten behind the ears.

Dumbledore nodded, "Severus – Hermione…I don't even know where to begin," he said, causing Sinstra to shift comfortably in her chair. "Now I sincerely hope that it certainly did not mean what it looked like."

"No," Hermione said, "it wasn't."

"Then what was it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"See, I was frightened when a snake decided to slither up my leg and Severus was only trying to get it off of me," Hermione replied, while Snape put the snake on Dumbledore's desk.

"But that doesn't explain how the entire Great Hall saw you two in a very…compromising position," Dumbledore said.

"I kicked Severus…on accident," McGonagall added, "when I was going out to retrieve a torch from the hallway, but then I had found the kitten."

Dumbledore turned towards Severus, "Is that true?"

"Yes, Headmaster," Severus said.

He nodded, "You're all free to go and please, don't let it happen again."

They all nodded and left, except for McGonagall, who slowly made her way towards the door.

"And part of me was actually hoping that it was actually what it looked like, between the two of them," Dumbledore said quietly.

"I know Albus; I was hoping for the same thing," McGonagall said and left the Headmaster's office.

---

Halfway down the corridor, Hermione and Severus stopped when they heard McGonagall's voice.

"Hermione, could I please talk to you for a moment?"

She nodded and started to walk towards McGonagall, Severus staring blankly at he back.

"Don't worry Severus; she'll be down in a few minutes."

He also nodded, but continued down towards the dungeons; the very last place he wanted to be in right now, was the Great Hall for dinner – even if it was Halloween.

"Before tomorrow's game, Hermione, I would just like to let you know that we have a slight problem," McGonagall said.

"Is it Janie?" Hermione asked, worried.

"Oh no; it's quite the opposite. You seem, Miss Marx has not completed her last three Transfiguration essays and until she gets them in, she is not allowed to play Quidditch," the older witch informed her younger colleague."

"But that means that Janie….Can't she turn them in today?" Hermione asked, "Or tomorrow?"

"You should know better than anybody else that the essays have to be graded the day before the match, to make sure that they didn't just write down anything."

"I know, but can't you make an-"

"Exception? No. Now, I know that you really don't feel comfortable letting Janie play, after everything that Misters Potter and Weasley had gone through, but trust me; it's a little different this time," she assured her. "Besides, with Janie playing seeker, Slytherin won't have a chance."

"The game's against Slytherin?" Hermione asked slowly.

"Yes," McGonagall said, watching her Hermione's eyes grow twice their size. "And both the teams are undefeated. But don't worry Hermione; Severus will be fine, you'll see. He might even do the right thing."

"Might's the keyword; knowing him, he'll still find a way to root for Janie and for Slytherin…"

"Don't expect him to wear a bright gold hat that says, 'Go Gryffindor' in scarlet letters," McGonagall said.

"I'm sure I can make him wear one," Hermione said.

"Good luck. Well, I'm going to let you go now; Severus is probably waiting for you someway down the next corridor."

Hermione nodded and walked down the corridor.

She was just about to give up hope on meeting him on her way down, when she heard a pair of voices coming from around the corner; Severus's and Sinstra's.

"No Sinstra," Severus said.

"But-"

"I've said it a thousand times before, and I'll say it again…NO!"

"Just once, she doesn't even have to know," the Professor urged.

"I'm not going out on a date with you – ever. How many times do you have to hear me say 'no', I say it _every_ year; haven't you gotten it yet?" He asked the desperate Professor.

_She likes Severus?_ Hermione thought to herself, stopping at the end of the corridor. _What if he somehow likes her too?_

"Is the only reason why you won't go out with me, is because you have child…wit her?"

"Stop calling Hermione 'her', Sinstra. She has a name, so why don't you start using it?" He said forcefully.

"Well, is it?"

_How dare she ask him something like that_? Hermione thought.

"Sinstra-" but Snape stopped when he saw a smirk cross the witch's features.

Hermione had poked her head around the corner to see where they were standing.

The two Professors were standing near the end of the corridor, with Severus's back turned towards Hermione. Unfortunately for Hermione, she wasn't quick enough and Sinstra had caught a glimpse of her presence.

"What?" Snape asked, his patience wearing thin.

"Oh nothing…I was just remembering…"

"Remembering what?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't you remember the time when Dumbledore booked an entire hotel floor for a staff party, during the winter holidays last year? And then you and me went and left everybody else to go and soak in the hot tub and we didn't get out until the water was gone? Wasn't it amazing?" She asked breathlessly.

_What? He won't even sit on his own couch in the dark shirtless and here…_

"What are you talking about?" Severus asked

Sinstra moved closer to Severus and gently cupped her hand to his cheek, "Severus, surely you remember such a special time…"

Severus's eyes wide and then reached up and ripped her hand away from his face. Hermione hadn't seen it though, because her eyes had become foggy from the tears that were now welling up in her eyes, making her back up so she was against the wall."

"Sinstra, don't you get it? I…don't…like you-"

"But you like her-"

"How many times do I have to tell you that that 'her' has a name?"

"Oh yes, how could I forget," she said sarcastically. "You know Severus; you can ditch the little twit."

_Uh! I'm going to kill her_," Hermione thought, withdrawing her wand.

"No Sinstra, I don't think I will," Severus said defiantly.

"Oh; is it because you're sleeping together, because I'll understand…And you're sure it's not because of your little Gryffindor?"

"No, we're not sleeping together and it's not because of Janie; it's because I lover her."

"What?" Sinstra asked incredulously.

"I love Hermione…not you."

Hermione's breath caught in her throat, _He said it; he said it again!_

"Now, I think we're done here, Sinstra," Severus said, turning around to find a glittering-eyed Hermione at the end of the corridor. "Hermione, how long have you been standing there?" He asked, his tone of voice considerably changed.

She didn't answer, just stared straight at Sinstra, who was slowly creeping down the hallway in the other direction.

Snape quickly turned around, "You knew she was there?" He asked, his anger quickly increasing. "How long was she there?" He asked, pointing towards Hermione.

Sinstra didn't say anything, so Snape looked back towards Hermione, who was slowly inching closer.

"She was there the entire time, wasn't she?" He asked; his pace quickening towards the Astronomy Professor, "Wasn't she?" He asked again, his voice raised and full rage.

"So what if she was, who cares?"

"I care," Severus said, making a beeline for the now-trembling Professor.

When Hermione had seen this, she started to run down the corridor towards Severus. He was only a few feet away from Sinstra when he turned around just in time to see Hermione running at him.

Before he had time to utter any words, Hermione had launched herself into Severus's arms, wrapped her legs around his waste and arms around his neck.

_Let's see if you like this Sinstra_, Hermione thought right before she gave Severus a teasingly short passionate kiss,

"Don't do it," she whispered, just inches away from his mouth.

"I cannot believe this," Sinstra said, rolling her eyes.

"Neither can I," Severus said.

"But...you…" the older Professor stuttered.

"Sinstra, go away," Hermione said.

"Severus, you have a choice-" she tried making her last desperate attempt.

"And I've made it," he said, kissing Hermione back.

Sinstra made several attempts to retaliate, but all that came out were a bunch of weird noises, until Severus waved his hand and silenced her.

The Astronomy teacher mouthed something to the couple and then stomped off in the other direction.

"Hermione?" Severus asked.

"Yeah?" She asked, annoyed.

"Get down," he said.

"What? Why?" She asked, looking at him.

"Because, I can hear students coming down from the other corridor."

"Oh," Hermione said and jumped down from him.

After a group of students had passed them, Severus started speaking.

"Why did you do that back there?"

"What – you didn't like it?" She asked, looking at him.

"I never said that; I'm just curious," he said.

"I did it to tease her…and you," she admitted.

"Me?"

"It was to show Sinstra what she can't have and I can," Hermione replied, "and it was also to tease you, but I didn't know that you were going to kiss me back in the hall."

"What, you didn't like it?" He asked her the same thing that she had asked him only moments before.

"I never said that," Hermione replied almost instantly.

Severus smirked and then kissed Hermione on the lips, his tongue briefly skimming across her bottom lip.

When he pulled away and started walking again, Hermione stopped and looked at him in awe, "What was that?"

He stopped and turned partially around, "Teasing," he said and continued down the corridor.

Right before they were going to turn the corner, they heard another pair of hurried footsteps from behind them. The pair decided to pay no attention to them, until the figure passed and briefly looked at them, before her catlike eyes flashed in front of her again.

"Severus, I don't ever want to hear of you taking away house points from students for holding someone's hand ever," McGonagall said as she passed them, not looking at them.

Severus stopped and stared at her back.

"Don't look at me like you have no idea what I'm talking about," she said, continuing to make her way down the opposite corridor in which they were headed.

Hermione stopped and asked, "You don't think…"

"No, she would have said something if she saw," Severus said.

"Let's hope so," Hermione said as they started walking again.

---

_Albus is never going to believe this!_ Minerva thought as she quickly made her way up the spiraling staircase.

"Albus!" She called.

"Enter," he said calmly.

After she had entered and shut the door, she started again, "Albus, you'll never-." She stopped, for sitting in the chair in front of her, was Professor Sinstra.

"I'll be with you in a minute, Minerva," Dumbledore said politely.

"Now, what seems to be the problem?" Dumbledore asked, looking at his fellow colleague expectantly.

She motioned towards her throat and then to her mouth.

"You can't talk," he stated.

She nodded.

"Then why don't you go and see Madam Pomfrey? You know, she can fix that in under a minute," Dumbledore said.

Sinstra looked at him like he was a child who just broke his mother's favorite vase. She then pulled out her wand and waved it at her throat.

Finally understanding, Dumbledore waved his hand and took it off, "I have a feeling that you didn't come up here, just so I could take off the silencing charm."

"Yes," she replied.

"May I ask who performed the spell?" Dumbledore asked.

"Your _wonderful_ Potions Master," she said, causing McGonagall to look at Dumbledore.

"Are you two still fighting about what happened last year on Valentine's Day?"

"No," she replied crossly, crossing her arms. "I'm here to report two Professors."

McGonagall rolled her eyes.

"Oh?" He asked.

"I'm reporting Professors Snape and Granger," she replied.

"On what grounds?" He asked curiously.

"For showing public displays of affection in the corridors-"

Dumbledore held up his hand, "If they were holding hands, I don't want to hear-"

"Oh-ho; students hold hands and they weren't holding hands."

"What were they doing then?" Dumbledore asked, his patience wearing thin, as the Professor tried again to get Snape into trouble.

"You know Dumbledore, hanging on each other and snogging in the corridors, is _not_ setting a good example for all the students in the castle," she said.

Dumbledore's eyes went wide, "Are you sure?"

"Why do you think he put a silencing charm on me? She jumped right into his arms and kissed him! Then, she had the _nerve_ to tell me to go away, right in the middle of the hallway! And then…he kissed her back! I have never seen such an inappropriate display in the corridors, in all my years of teaching here!"

"Alright," Dumbledore said, holding up his hand again, "I get it. Don't worry, Professor, I will talk to them about what's private and what is not."

"Just talk? Shouldn't they be punished? Don't they deser-"

"I will handle it, Professor," he said, dismissing the upset Professor, who left with a grunt.

Dumbledore turned to his fellow colleague and acted like nothing had just happened.

"So Minerva, what brings you; I thought you would be enjoying the end of the feast."

"You'll never believe what I saw…I saw your troublesome couple kissing in the corridor."

"Yes, yes; we've already established that."

"No, it was again. Sinstra was nowhere in sight; they were alone."

"Really now?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes starting to hold a twinkle.

"Oh yes…and you know what? _He_ initiated it," McGonagall said, like she had just earned herself an award from the school.

"Severus did?" He asked, almost about to fall off of his chair in shock.

"That's what I saw," she replied.

"Wow; I guess everything is working well then," Dumbledore said, stroking his chin.

"Yes; now can you leave them alone? They seem to be getting along just fine," the old witch pointed out.

"I suppose so…"

"Are you going to reprimand them?"

"Not really; just some friendly advice at the Quidditch match tomorrow," he said casually.

"Severus is going to be mad that we know and that's going to add onto his already foul mood."

"Ah yes; the much-anticipated Quidditch match in tomorrow, I presume," Dumbledore said.

She nodded, "Best to stay out of his way, then."

"Poor Hermione; she's going to have to put up with him all day," Dumbledore said.

---

"You're going to be cold out there," Severus said the next morning as they were getting ready to leave.

Hermione narrowed her eyes and then grabbed her jacket.

Before leaving, Severus decided to tell Hermione the news that Dumbledore had given him, a few days prior.

"Hermione, I'm not sure if you know, but Janie's going to be playing in the game today," he said, preparing himself for any sort of outburst, but it never came.

Hermione sighed, "Yes, I know; McGonagall told me yesterday. Who told you?"

"Dumbledore," he replied.

"And I assume that Janie doesn't know yet, because she would have told us," Hermione said.

"At the worst possible moment," Severus added.

Hermione gave him a look that warned him that what she was about to say, wouldn't be very pleasant.

"She has bad timing," Severus said, trying to defend what he had said earlier.

Hermione sighed, "I think that she does most of it on purpose. She has always interrupted me when I was doing important things. I didn't think that she really knew any better when she was younger, but as she got older, I swear that she started doing it on purpose," Hermione explained.

"So you agree then," Severus said, opening the door, his eyes falling on a neatly wrapped box, sitting just outside their door.

"Hermione, is something happening today that I don't know about?" He asked, making Hermione poke her head around him.

"Nothing that I know of," she said as he picked up the box and brought it into their quarters.

"Look, it's from Janie," Hermione said, pulling the small card off of the package.

_Mum, Dad-_

_I hope you like this little gift_;_ I would have kept it, but it was causing too much of a problem because the other girls couldn't have one_._ I hope that it won't cause too many problems_. _Have fun!_

_Love,_

_Janie_

_P.S. He's called "Matchbox_._"_

After Severus had read the card, he turned to Hermione, who was unwrapping the box, "I really don't like the sound of that le-"

"Aw! Look Severus; it's a kitten!"

Severus skeptically looked at the little kitten. It was mostly black, except for its paws, the tip of its tail, and a patch between his eyes and nose, which were all white.

"She gave us a _cat_?" He asked slowly.

"It's a kitten Severus. You don't think that it was Janie on Halloween, do you?" Hermione asked, holding the little kitten.

Severus didn't want to tell Hermione what he really thought, so he lied, "Of course not."

"Isn't he so cute?" Hermione asked, showing Severus Matchbox.

"Hermione, we can't keep a kitten," he said.

"Oh…and why not?"

"Well, for one, he's probably not house broken and two; I don't want him destroying my things."

"Like what, Severus?" She asked.

"My potions lab-"

"How is this poor, _defenseless_, little kitten going to ruin your potions lab? I bet he can't even get in there," Hermione asked him with a quivering lip.

Severus looked at her and sighed, "Fine."

"Fine what?"

"Fine; he can stay," he said, getting a hug from Hermione.

After Hermione had set up everything for the kitten and after Severus had shut all the doors in their quarters, they left and made their way down to the Quidditch pitch.

---

"I see you've both finally decided to come," McGonagall said. "We were starting to think that you two wouldn't show."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Minerva," Hermione said, "but we were getting out new member of the family situated."

"We?" Severus asked.

"Sorry, I was – you were just proofing the quarters," she said, while McGonagall noticed the extra jacket that Hermione was wearing.

"Hermione," the older witch said, "it's not cold outside for all that, is it?"

Hermione stole a glance at Severus, who was secretly listening in on their conversation, "I wouldn't want to be catching a cold now, with teaching and everything," she said, causing a look of pure glee to come across the old witch's face.

"So, when are you due?" McGonagall whispered to Hermione.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"When will you and Severus have a new responsibility?"

"Excuse me?"

"Hermione, aren't you and Severus expecting?" McGonagall said a little louder, earning the attention of a few other staff members.

Hermione turned to her left, where Severus was choking and coughing on the air.

"Hermione, you didn't tell him?" McGonagall asked shockingly.

"But I didn't…I'm not…" She stammered while hitting Severus on the back.

"Did you…do something…that I'm…not aware…of?" He chocked out.

"No," Hermione blushed furiously. "Minerva, what are you _talking_ about?"

"Don't you have a bun cooking in the oven?" She asked, making Severus gag.

"What – no!"

Dumbledore leaned forwards, his eyes shining brightly, "I must tell you how delighted I really am for the both of you-"

"I'M NOT PREGNANT!" Hermione shouted, causing the entire stand to go quiet.

"Professors," Justin said, trying to catch their attention, while covering the microphone. "Are you going to watch the game or talk about each other's personal lives? I don't want to hear about it, and I'm sure the entire stadium doesn't want to hear about it either."

Hermione, if it was even possible, was blushing even more now. Seeing that almost all the Professor's eyes were on her and Severus, she grabbed his arm and buried her face against it.

"Go away," she mumbled.

"What'd she say?" McGonagall asked.

"To shut up and stop bothering us," Severus said, earning a kick in the shin from Hermione.

A few minutes later, Severus leaned over and whispered into Hermione's ear, "Are you going to watch any of the match, or just stare at my arm the entire time?"

"I'm sleeping," she mumbled, making Severus roll his eyes.

"May I?" Dumbledore asked, pointing at Hermione, while he switched seats with McGonagall.

Severus looked from Hermione to Dumbledore and then nodded.

"Hermione," Dumbledore said, shaking her shoulder.

Hermione looked up and then jumped, seeing a different person sitting next to her since she had put her head down.

Dumbledore chuckled, "I'm sorry dear, but I need to talk to you and Severus for a moment," he said, causing Severus to look at him.

"Now, would either of you two know why an angry Professor Sinstra came into my office last night with a silencing charm cast on her, that she couldn't get off?"

"Silencing charm?" Hermione asked, looking strangely at Severus, even though she new _exactly_ what Dumbledore was talking about.

"Once I had taken it off, she began to rant about the activities of two certain Professors while in the corridors and I could hardly believe my ears. Then, she said that she was reporting them.

"Now I thought about what I should do to the two Professors…and I've decided to let them off on a warning. Please try to keep your hands to yourselves and not on each other…while in the corridors," Dumbledore said only loud enough for the speechless Professors to hear.

"And, they should also know that if they are caught in public, hanging on each other again, they will be disciplined; maybe they both need to learn what the word 'detention' means again," the Headmaster finished, letting the words sink in.

"Detention might not be _so_ bad," Snape said lowly after several seconds.

"You might soon find a different view on that Severus; you two won't be in the same room together," Dumbledore said.

"We'll see about that," Snape said.

"I mean it, Severus; you're not going to want that detention," Dumbledore warned.

"You might need to refresh my memory, Albus; I haven't supervised any detentions all term so far. I think I may have forgotten," Severus said.

McGonagall snorted, "Like that's ever going to happen."

"I'm serious Severus, watch what you do in the corridors where students are present – someone could have seen you two; then what would have happened? Well, for one, you'd both be in a lot of trouble; you don't want your quarters spilt up now, do you?" He asked.

Hermione looked like the ground was ripped right out from underneath her feet.

"I take that as a no," Dumbledore said, upon seeing Hermione's face. "I'm not trying to be disheartening or anything, but please, don't do anything inappropriate in public."

Hermione nodded.

"Good," Dumbledore said as he clapped his hands together and brought his voice back up to its normal volume. "Now, let's get back to watching the game; I do believe that Slytherin is winning by five points," he said and turned away to finish watching the rest of the game.

"Unbelievable," Hermione said to Severus, "nothing's private anymore."

"It is in your quarters," Dumbledore said.

"See," Hermione said, motioning towards the twinkling-eyed Headmaster.

"Albus," Minerva said a few minutes later, "what did you do that for?"

"Do what for?" He asked clueless.

"You know Severus is going to purposefully try and get that detention now; you pretty much just egged him on there."

"I know," he replied. "Which is why Sinstra will find herself very busy as of lately; notice how she's not here at the current moment?"

McGonagall narrowed her eyes, "I'm staying out of this one, Albus; you're all by yourself for this. You are truly unbelievable; you know that, don't you?"

Dumbledore looked at Severus and smiled, "At least I'm not the only one."

---

At lunch time, the game was still going strong. Slytherin was still beating Gryffindor by five points and the snitch was still nowhere to be found.

Janie was searching the field high and low, but still couldn't see a shimmer of gold. Earlier in the game, Slytherin's seeker tried to get Janie to do a nosedive into the ground, but he was unsuccessful. She was about to circle the stadium again, but she saw a glitter of gold, down by the Slytherin's end of the field.

Janie quickly looked for the other seeker, who was at the other end of the field, and then zoomed off in the other direction.

"And it looks like this game might finally come to a close; Janie Snape has seen the snitch! Good thing too; I'm starting to get hungry," the commentator said.

When the opposing seeker knew that he wouldn't be able to get to the snitch in time, he told the beaters something and then pointed towards Janie. A wicked grin spread across both their faces and then they raced off in Janie's direction.

Janie was now only inches away from the snitch, when the Gryffindor's Captain started yelling at Janie for her to turn around.

She quickly turned her head to see a bludger flying right at her. Determined, she pushed on faster and right as she was about to entwine her fingers around the snitch, the bludger came around and broke the front end right off of her broomstick, sending Janie spinning.

Not a single person in the stadium knew if she had succeeded in catching the snitch, because her hand swiped the air and came down to grip what was left of her broomstick.

After Janie had spun around a few times, the other beater whacked the other bludger towards her, which hit her right in the stomach, sending Janie crashing through the bottom half of the teacher's stands.

As soon as the first bludger had hit Janie's broomstick, Hermione had jumped off of her seat, nearly knocking Severus over. When the second had hit her, Hermione and shrieked out her daughter's name and went to run down the stairs, but Severus had held her back.

The entire stadium, except for the side that was green and silver, watched in almost complete silence until the bludger came out right above where Janie was sent through.

Hermione ripped herself free from Severus's grasp and raced down the stairs, Severus calling out for her to stop.

"Please Hermione, don't go down there yet; you don't want to be the first person to see her."

Hermione stopped and whirled around, "And why not?"

"Because she just went through a wooden wall; you're not going to want to see her."

"I've seen her before after accidents, Severus," Hermione said. "I want-"

"Trust me," he said and walked in front of her.

They walked down two more flights of stairs, when they came across the hole in the stands. When Severus looked out it, he saw the Captain of the Gryffindor team call a timeout and then the Slytherin seeker high-five one of the beaters, while the other beater hit a bludger at the opposing team's captain, after the whistle was blown.

Seeing as Madam Hooch's back was turned, she hadn't seen it. Normally, Severus would have left it and not have said anything, but after seeing the two teammates high-five each other, he had had enough.

"Hermione, I'll be right back," he said and ran back up the stairs, taking two at a time.

Right before Hermione reached Janie, she heard Severus telling at the two beaters and their seeker. She couldn't hear exactly what he was yelling about, just that he sounded extremely angry. Several seconds later, the announcer had announced that three Slytherin players were taken out of the game.

When Hermione reached Janie, she saw that she was lying on her side, with several pieces of wood on top of her.

Hermione started to frantically throw the wood off of her daughter and just as she was about to turn Janie over, she heard footsteps hurrying down the stairs.

Carefully turning Janie over, Hermione gasped. She was breathing slowly, but she had a series of cuts and bruises on her face. There were a few small scratches on each of her cheeks and hands, with a rather large bruise on her upper left forehead.

As soon as Hermione's hand came up to brush Janie's hair away from face, her necklace's gem started to faintly glow. Hermione hadn't noticed it though, because when she pushed Janie's bangs away from the left side of her forehead, her heart skipped a beat. On that side of her forehead, Janie had a cut that went from the top of her hair line that ran diagonally almost to the tip of her ear. Hermione quickly covered the cut with her hand to try and stop the breathing, forgetting that she had a wand, which made the necklace glow a little brighter.

"Janie, don't worry, I'm here now," Hermione said, holding her left hand. "And your father's coming right behind me," she said as the tears started to roll down her cheeks.

Severus came up behind Hermione and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, crouching down so that he was even with Hermione.

"What are we going to do, Sev? We can't bring her to the Hospital Wing like this," she said, her throat tightening.

Severus heard the immediate change in her voice, "It's going to be alright, Hermione."

"How is this going to be alright?" She asked, briefly lifting her hand away from Janie's forehead.

Severus pulled his wand out and told Hermione to remove her hand away from Janie's cut. When she had complied, he put his wand's tip above the cut and whispered a spell.

"What was that for?" She asked sniffling.

"To stop the bleeding; now, we have to get her Quidditch robes off of her."

"Why?"

He pointed to Janie's mouth, where there was a think line of blood trailing down from it, "She may have a few broken ribs."

"What?" Hermione chocked out, her eyes welling up with tears again.

When he was about to take the right arm off, he stopped.

"What's in her hand?" He asked.

"I don't know," she replied, watching as Severus pulled the golden snitch from his daughter's enclosed hand.

"She caught it," Hermione said slowly, as Severus put the snitch in his pocket, for the time being.

Hermione slowly pulled the bottom of Janie's shirt up, revealing a dark bruise where the bludger had hit her, and then another on her right side.

After Hermione had seen the bruises, she took her free hand and gently laid it on Janie's stomach. Severus brought this wand down on Janie's stomach and whispered an incantation that made the smaller bruise disappear.

Snape watched Hermione quietly for several seconds, until a tear fell down from her cheek and landed on her hand. He slowly reached his hand out and laid it gently on top of Hermione's, making her turn around and look at him.

"Everything's going to be alright; don't worry," he said, his face showing concern and comfort.

Hermione looked at Janie, then at Severus and then put her head against his shoulder and started to cry. When she opened her eyes, she saw that he was glowing.

"Severus, you're glow-" Hermione stopped when she looked and noticed that the three of them were glowing.

"The necklace," he said quietly.

Hermione looked at Janie's necklace and saw that it was shinning brightly, like the sun. She then looked at her and Severus's hands and then at Severus, who was emitting a soft yellow light that was glowing brightly.

Both their eyes were drawn to Janie as her wounds started to slowly heal on the outside. The cuts on her face and hands started to heal, the cut on her forehead shrunk a little bit, and her breathing even evened out.

"What – what's going on?" Hermione asked.

"I…don't know," Severus replied, "it has something to do with the Phoenix feather…"

Dumbledore was just about to continue walking down the stairs but stopped; McGonagall almost running into him.

"Why are they glowing?" The old witch asked.

"Ssshhh," Dumbledore said.

The two watched for a few more seconds, until the glow slowly faded away. Once the glow was gone, Dumbledore continued his way down the stairs, his friend following a few moments later.

Dumbledore bent over Janie and cast several spells over her, while Severus watched. Unable to watch anymore, Hermione turned around and faced the wall, until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

When she turned around, she came to face her old mentor.

"Are you alright?" McGonagall asked sincerely.

Hermione started to nod her head, but as the tears fell faster down her face, the nod turned into a shake. When McGonagall saw this, she walked towards the crying witch and hugged her.

Dumbledore walked up behind them and put his hand on Hermione's shoulder, "Hermione, I don't see anything life-threatening with Janie's condition, but I do want you to know that I wasn't able to wake her up. Madam Pomfrey will be able to do more, once we get her to the Hospital Wing, though."

Hermione looked up at him with shimmering eyes, "Thank you, Albus, but there's one more thing," she said, walking over to Severus and pulling something out of his pocket. "She had this, in her hand," Hermione said, exposing the golden snitch.

"Merlin," McGonagall said, "she caught it."

"Thank you, Hermione; I'll be right back – it seems that Gryffindor has won the game."

After Dumbledore had left, McGonagall said, "I think we should bring her to the Hospital Wing now," while taking out her wand.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, as Severus bent down to pick Janie up.

"Conjuring a stretcher; what are you doing," she asked, waving her wand towards Severus.

"Janie doesn't like being levitated," Severus said.

"Then what are you going to do?" The older witch asked.

"Carry her," he said and started walking down the rest of the stairs.

---

When Dumbledore came back down, he found McGonagall still waiting for him.

"The students won't be released for a few more minutes," he said, making his way down the rest of the stairs.

McGonagall nodded, "Albus, why were there three of them glowing?"

"Ah, that was the Phoenix feather that Janie has in her necklace," he said.

"I have never known an ordinary Phoenix feather to make its wearer…and others glow and heal their injuries, Albus. What else is protecting her?" McGonagall asked.

"Love," Dumbledore said.

**A/N: The love that Dumbledore talks about at the ending of the chapter is not exactly the same as the love that saved Harry in the books; there is more to it, which will be explained in the next chapter. Sorry for how long the chapter took to come out, I tried to get it out last week, but I went down to Disney World for a few days to perform. Thanks to everybody who had read and reviewed; it's really appreciated. **


	21. Ever the Same

**Disclaimer: I sadly don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, just Janie's personality, J.K. Rowling does. And I'm also not making any money off of this either. I would also like to note, that I do not own **_**Ever the Same**_**; I'm just borrowing the wonderful lyrics for a short time. **

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"_Just let me hold you while you're falling apart_.

_Just let me hold you and we'll both fall down_.

_Fall on me; tell me everything you want me to be_.

_Forever with you…forever in me…ever the same_."

_-Lyrics from Ever the Same by Rob Thomas_

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Only two things could be heard around the castle the next day: the Quidditch match and the Halloween prank. The corridors were filled with an endless buzzing about how Janie caught the snitch or how Dumbledore still hadn't figured out who had successfully pulled off the Halloween prank.

When the Gryffindors awoke on Sunday morning, they had found an enlarged picture of Scott Narls and his friend's face after the lights turned back on, posted on their bulletin board. Needless to say, Scott's friend had learned his lesson after one of the older students copied the picture and had it charmed all the way down the Slytherin table. It took Dumbledore and Snape nearly three hours to get all the posters off of the table. After they were done, it had turned out that the charm was one that the Weasley twins had come up with, making Severus even angrier at the whole thing.

It wasn't until after the picture incident that Snape was finally able to go back to the Hospital Wing. When he arrived, he found Janie in the same position, but couldn't see Hermione anywhere. He was just about to open his mouth, when Madam Pomfrey came out of her office and stopped him.

"Ssshhh," she told him, pointing towards the other side of Janie's bed.

Severus walked over towards where Madam Pomfrey had pointed, only to find Hermione sound asleep, sitting on a chair with her head on Janie's bed.

He was just about to move her into a more comfortable position, when a hand grabbed the back of his cloak and turned him around.

"Severus Snape," she whispered. "Don't you dare touch her. That poor girl has had hardly any sleep since yesterday and if you touch her, she's going to wake up. The last thing I need around here is a tired and crabby mother who can breakdown at any moment," Madam Pomfrey said.

Severus stared at her blankly for a moment before arguing, "But if she sleeps like this, she will be crabby."

"Leave her," Madam Pomfrey said as she walked away, leaving no room for any more disputing.

Seeing as the crazed medical worker would tear his head off if Severus woke Hermione up, all he could do was magically put a pillow under her head.

An hour and a half later, Severus felt his eye lids getting heavy, until he heard somebody coming into the Hospital Wing. His eyes lids immediately snapped open and looked out the Hospital Wing's door, only to find a hesitant student.

Scott Narls was standing in the doorway, one foot in the Infirmary, with a card in his hand. When he saw Snape's eyes flash open, he froze.

"Umm, sorry to disturb you Professor," Scott said, cautiously walking in. "I just wanted to drop this off for Janie," he said, placing a card on her table, which was already full of gifts and cards and then quickly left.

_That boy needs to grow a backbone_, Severus thought to himself.

Twenty minutes later, Madam Pomfrey came in to check on Janie and accidentally bumped into Hermione, making her eyes snap open.

When the Mediwitch turned around to find Hermione sitting up, Severus could have sworn that it was the very first time that he had ever heard the old witch curse loudly with students in the room.

"Janie…is Janie up yet?" She asked groggily.

"No," Severus replied softly.

Hermione's eyes started to well up with tears again, but blinked them back when she saw that Madam Pomfrey was in the room.

The previous day, it seemed like Hermione was an endless water fountain. It had gotten to the point where Madam Pomfrey had embarrassed her by asking her in front of Severus and several other older male students in the Hospital Wing, if she 'needed a potion to help her with her time of the month.' This of course, had shut Hermione immediately up; until later when Poppy had told her that if she wasn't going to take it, she was going to give her a potion that would dry up her tear ducts. Severus just sat there, deciding that anything he said would probably end up being used against him later.

"Ms. Granger, it would be wise for you if you got some more sleep," the old Mediwitch said.

Hermione nodded and pretended to fall back asleep until she left the room.

"Hermione, she's right; you really do need to get some more sleep," Severus said.

"But what if Janie wakes up?" She asked.

"You'll still be right here," he pointed out.

Hermione looked at her daughter and then rested her head on Severus's shoulder.

"Promise?" She asked.

"Promise," he said.

---

For the next twenty minutes, the Hospital Wing was incredibly silent; Madam Pomfrey didn't even emerge out of her office. Severus silently watched his daughter; his attention was shifted however to looking out the Hospital Wing's door.

Coming towards the Hospital Wing, was the entire Hufflepuff Quidditch team, still with their brooms, being chased by Professor Sprout.

"Mr. Filler! What did I tell you? Do not go into that Hospital Wing!" She shouted from across the hall.

The boy turned around, "But Thompson's unconscious; he fell off of his broom and landed in the stands."

"I told you to come to me with any injuries," she said as the team stopped right outside the door. "Besides, you're all loud enough to wake the dead."

"No we're not," he replied, making Hermione shift in her chair and Madam Pomfrey come scurrying out of her office.

"What's all this racquet about?" She asked, looking from the Professor to the team.

The Quidditch team shuffled around so that the unconscious boy was in front of the group.

"Oh dear," Madam Pomfrey said, "not another one. At least his mother isn't around," she added quietly, while levitating the boy to the other end of the Hospital Wing, from where Severus and Hermione were currently sitting.

Severus watched as Madam Pomfrey had a conversation with Professor Sprout, in which he was pointed at or motioned to three times.

After Madam Pomfrey had kicked out the rest of the team, she turned around to find a weary-looking Hermione, sitting up in her chair again. Deciding not to over there right away and let Severus handle it, Madam Pomfrey quietly slipped back into her office once she had woken the boy up and made sure he was alright.

---

"C'mon Lyss, we have to go and drop these cards off for Janie before dinner," Matt said, making his way down to the infirmary.

"But I don't want to disturb her parents," Lyss said. "When I passed earlier, her mum was sleeping."

"She's not now," Matt said. "I passed by there fifteen minutes ago and they're both wide awake," he said over his shoulder as he turned the last corner.

They walked the rest of the short way in silence, until Matt walked into the Hospital Wing and noticed that Lyss wasn't following him.

"Lyss, we'll only be a few minutes; maybe even only a few seconds," he said, continuing down the center isle of the Hospital Wing.

Right before Matt was going to turn to where Janie's bed was located, Madam Pomfrey came bustling out, muttering something about slipping Hermione a dreamless sleep potion under her breath.

Turning the corner, Matt was slightly relieved when he only saw Hermione sitting in the small area. When the twins walked into view, Hermione looked up and her face softened.

"Good evening, Professor Granger," Matt said, "Sorry to interrupt, but we just wanted to drop off some things for Janie," he said, setting down a small package on the table.

"Thanks Matt," Hermione said, watching as Lyss did the same thing a few moments later. "I'm sure she'll love them," she said, a little absentmindedly.

"Thank you, Professor Granger," Matt said as he went to leave, but stopped again when he noticed that Lyss was still looking around the room.

"Anything wrong?" Hermione asked Lyss.

"No; I just thought that Professor Snape would be here too," Lyss said, earning a glare from Matt.

"He will be; he's just checking on our kitten," Hermione said.

Before leaving, Matt looked at Janie and then walked back into the small area.

"Professor?" He asked.

"Yes?"

"Janie will be alright, won't she?" He asked sympathetically.

Hermione looked at Janie, "I don-"

"She's going to be fine," a voice said from behind them, making the two students and Hermione snap their heads over towards the door, only to find Severus standing there with a blanket in his arms.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and watched as he set the bundle at the foot of Janie's bed and then opened it, revealing their new kitten.

When he was done, he turned to Hermione, "Janie's going to be fine."

Hermione looked at Janie and then out the curtain's opening at Madam Pomfrey's office, "And how do you know that?" She asked.

Severus remained silent.

"See, you don't know Severus; nobody knows if she's going to be alright…Madam Pomfrey doesn't even know," she said, standing up and turning to look out the window.

Matt started to slowly back up towards Lyss, but what happened next, shocked them both.

Hermione turned around and looked at Severus, tears staining her cheeks, "She was too young to play Quidditch; she shouldn't have-"

"Hermione," Severus said, "Potter was younger than Janie was and we all know that he was in the Hospital Wing more-"

"But what does that have to do with anything?" She exclaimed.

"He's living and breathing now, isn't he?" Severus pointed out.

"But that's different! Harry's Harry, but Janie's my daughter!"

When Hermione's words had hit him, Severus fully realized how hard on Hermione this must be. Sure, it was hard on him, even though he didn't show it, but it seemed like the world might end for Hermione, if Janie didn't make it out alright.

"It's been more than one day now, Severus; she should at least be up by now! This should have never happened; Janie's too young for this to be happening to her…it should be me on that bed – not Janie."

Severus couldn't bear to watch Hermione continue on any longer. He walked right up to her and stopped her gesturing hands with his own.

"Hermione, look at me," he said.

Hermione looked up at him with heartbreaking eyes.

"Janie is going to be fine, don't doubt yourself about it," he said softly.

After this, it was hard to tell whether Hermione's knees gave out or if she simply just gave up, because she fell forwards and grabbed Severus for support.

Madam Pomfrey passed the room and watched as Severus and Hermione sat down on their daughter's bed. Just as she was about to pass the room, she noticed two heads, that weren't supposed to be there. Walking behind the twins, Madam Pomfrey grabbed the collars to their robes and dragged them out.

"Now, what are you two doing here when dinner's just about to start?" She asked, making the two look at each other and then scurry out of the Hospital Wing.

As the Mediwitch passed the two again, Hermione had her head on Severus's shoulder, so she closed the curtains the rest of the way around their area.

"What was that?" Hermione sniffed out.

"Madam Pomfrey just shut the curtains," he said, smoothing down her hair on her back.

"It's not fair," she quietly cried a few minutes later. "Nothing's ever fair anymore."

Severus securely tightened his hold on Hermione and right when he opened his mouth to speak, a feeble voice cut him off.

"Life's never fair," Janie said weakly.

"JANIE!" Hermione exclaimed, almost falling off of the bed.

As soon as Severus released his hold on Hermione, she lunged at Janie, enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug.

"Umm Mum, I can't breathe," Janie said, which seemed to go unheard, because Hermione didn't move.

"Hermione," Severus said, trying to tug Hermione away from Janie, "she can't breathe."

Hermione immediately pulled away from her daughter, "Sorry Janie; I'm just so happy that you're alright."

"It's alright Mum," she said and turned to her father and hugged him. "Thanks Dad."

"I'm really glad that you're alright, Janie," Severus said, returning the hug. "So you know, you had your mother worried sick."

"Sorry Mum," Janie said, bringing her hand up to her forehead. "Why do I have something on my head?"

Hermione and Severus looked at each other.

"Janie, I know it's probably a bit much for you right now, but what do you last remember?" Severus asked.

"My broom was hit by a…my broom!"

"We'll worry about that later," Hermione said.

"The last thing I remember is seeing the bludger coming at me and then hitting me. The _very_ last thing I remember is hitting something hard and then this pain shot through my body. This was all after I was reaching for…THE SNITCH! Did I catch it?" Janie asked, looking from both her parents.

"Yes-" Severus started.

"Did Gryffindor win?"

"Yes," Hermione said proudly, looking at Severus out of the corner of her eye.

"Sorry Dad," Janie said.

"But that was the last thing I can remember," Janie said, "until about five minutes ago."

Hermione sighed and looked at Severus, "You're going to want to know what happened soon, and I guess this is the best moment to do so," Hermione said.

A little while later, Madam Pomfrey cautiously peeked through the curtains, only to find Janie sitting up against her pillows. Walking through a small opening, Madam Pomfrey made her presence known.

"Ah good, I see you're up, Ms. Snape," she said, closing the curtains.

The Mediwitch then turned around and saw that Hermione wasn't crying, but sitting there at the edge of her daughter's bed.

"How long has she been up?" She asked.

"Not long," Hermione replied almost instantly.

"I thought that I was supposed to know as soon as she woke up. Don't give me that look, Ms. Granger, I know it has been a while; you're not acting like you have been all day. Now, I need everybody out, except for you, Ms. Snape; I need you to stay right where you are."

Hermione got off of the bed, but as soon as she was at the curtain, she opened her mouth.

"I need to run tests on your daughter to make sure that she'll be alright. Now please go back to your quarters and get a good night's rest," she said, closing the curtains, which blocked the two out.

---

Dumbledore sat in his office, thinking about the day's events, when McGonagall knocked at the door.

"Enter," he said softly, from his place at his desk.

"What's the matter, Albus; you're never usually this quiet," Minerva said, after several moments of silence.

"Just thinking about the necklace," Dumbledore said.

"About that, I was going to ask you-"

"What had happened," Dumbledore interrupted her.

McGonagall nodded.

"That's one of the more-genius ideas of mine," Dumbledore said, "putting the melted phoenix feather in Janie's necklace. You see, it will protect the wearer from any sorts of minor magic or even minor injuries. But, the true magic, lies within the wearer's heart. The special ability of the melted phoenix feather is that it works off of love and loyalty."

"So the feather healed Janie, because when Severus and Hermione touched her, it felt the love that Janie had for her parents and the loyalty to them?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes, but that's not all of it. It really only worked the way it did, because it sensed the love between her parents and the strong need to protect their daughter. That's the true magic of it; it looks in your heart, not your head, because only your heart holds the true answers," Dumbledore said, gazing out his window at the stars.

---

After Janie was let out of the Hospital Wing, it seemed like the entire month of November, passed in a blur. Before anybody knew it, the next Hogsmeade weekend had arrived.

It was early in the morning and Hermione was already up, drinking coffee, and savoring that she was actually out of bed, before Severus.

When she was walking back to her room to get ready, she heard Severus muttering something about their cat sleeping on his bed again. Deciding to bask in the glow that she was up before him, she sat down on their couch and waited for him to come out.

She was just about to go in and see if he had fallen back asleep, when she heard a crash.

"Damn cat! Get off of me or I'll-"

Not knowing what was wrong, Hermione got up and cautiously made her way over towards Severus's door, when she heard him call.

"Hermione, wake up and get your bloody cat!" He yelled, opening the door, only to find her waiting for him.

As soon as the door was flung open, Hermione sensed that something wasn't right. For one thing, he still wasn't dressed yet and for another, he was holding the kitten awfully close to his chest.

"Severus, why is Matches-" she stopped when he removed his hands from around the furry creature and held them out, as far as they would go.

"You cat…is _stuck_ on me," he seethed.

"What?" She asked disbelievingly, wrapping her hands around Matches, only to find out that he really was stuck, causing a look of horror to spread across her face.

"Oh my God Severus; his nails are imbedded in your chest!"

"Thanks for stating the obvious," he said, while Hermione tried to gently pull the kitten off, making Severus contort her face.

"What are you trying to do, woman? You're going to rip my skin off if you keep pulling like that!"

"Well I can't get him off you like this! It's kind of hard to pry him off you while you're standing," Hermione said.

"Well, what do you want me to do then?" He asked annoyed.

"First off, you need to relax," she said.

_Relax…how can I relax when I have an animal stuck to me?_

"Severus did you hear me?"

"What?"

"I said, sit down," she said, tugging him towards the couch and then pushing him on top of it, which made Matches cling to him harder.

Hermione sat next to him on the couch and tried to lean over to detach the kitten's claws, but couldn't really see that well. Thinking for a few moments, an idea popped into her mind.

"Severus, lay down," Hermione said absentmindedly.

"What?" He looked at Hermione like he had no idea what she was talking about.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione pushed him down, so that he was lying on his back.

"Have you lost the ability to function by yourself?" Hermione asked him, earning a glare and a scowl.

"Sorry Severus, but you're acting like you've never heard the words 'sit down' or 'lay down' before," Hermione said, kneeling down on the floor next to the couch.

_Why can't I get a good view from here? It's almost like I have to see it from above- _Hermione stopped, getting an idea. _Yep, it's probably the best way that I can see_, Hermione thought to herself as she got up off of the floor. _I don't think Severus is going to like it that much…oh well_;_ it's not like he's deciding things now anyways_, she thought, climbing up onto the couch.

"What are you-" Severus stopped when Hermione sat on him. "Hermione, what are you _doing_?"

"You do want Matchbox off of you, right?"

"Yes, but I don't see how sitting on me will help the situation," Severus said.

"It's either this, I levitate Matchbox up in the air, until his nails pop out of your skin or I bring you up to Madam Pomfrey, exactly the way you are right now," she informed him.

"No…this is fine," he said.

"Good; that's what I thought," she said, leaning over the scared kitchen.

After five minutes, Hermione had successfully removed three paws; all that was left was his front-right paw.

"Almost done," Hermione declared.

"Thank God," Severus muttered.

Hermione was almost done with the last paw, when she leaned into the couch and accidentally elbowed Severus in his gut making Severus jump, which scared the cat.

Matchbox screeched and then tried to run, yanking the rest of his nails free, scratching Severus across the chest along the way. Hermione tried to catch the cat, but he slipped through her fingers and ran back into Severus's room.

The absence of the small animal left nothing for Hermione to grab onto, so she wouldn't fall off the couch, so she did the next best thing – she grabbed onto Severus's arms, pulling him off of the couch in the process.

Hermione landed on the floor with a thud, while Severus landed on top of her, his foot hitting the table on the way down.

"Oww; that wasn't funny, Hermione," Severus said, propping himself up with one of his arms, only to find Hermione laughing.

"Did you hit your head on the way down?" Severus asked her.

"No," she said, between laughing.

"Mind sharing?" He asked.

"It's just out of everybody I know with cats, you're the first one to experience having one stuck to your chest," she said, giggling at the memory. "I'm sorry I'm laughing at something that must have been painful, but it just had to happen this morning…"

"What's happening today?" Severus asked, fearing the answer that he was going to get.

"Don't you remember what happened before the last Hogsmeade visit?"

"You're not going, are you?" Snape asked, again afraid of what the answer was going to be.

"McGonagall dragged me into it; besides, Janie's birthday is in a week and the winter holidays are right around the corner…"

"No," Snape said.

"Yes. And what makes everything funnier is…Dumbledore's supposed to floo me with information...at any moment now."

"No," Snape repeated.

"And what's funny is the position we're in, when Dumbledore's head can appear at any moment now."

"No…"

"Have you lost the ability to speak, along with your ability to function?" She asked, between laughs.

"No-" Snape stopped when he realized he had just said the same word, four times in a row.

_Dammit_; _how does she do that? I'm never going to win at this rate_... Snape thought as he silently gave up at trying to have a normal day.

"And I just know that we're going to be late again; especially at the rate that we're going at now…" she said and then started to snicker again. "Doesn't it just suck when everything goes wrong?"

"Then let's be late for a reason," Snape said, ignoring the last part, making Hermione raise her eyebrows.

"Am I going to like this reason?" She asked.

"I think you _might_ enjoy it," Severus said.

"As long as there's no teasing involved," Hermione replied.

"I can't promise that," Severus said, lowering his head.

"Well then, neither can I," Hermione said, pulling her arm out from underneath his body, "and that's a promise."

"Oh?" Severus asked with raised eyebrows as Hermione leaned up to kiss him.

It was short-lived however, because they both felt the warning that somebody was just about to floo them. (Due to Dumbledore's numerous interruptions, Severus and Hermione had set up numerous charms on their fireplace.) Hermione tried to get up, but Severus made no inclination that he felt the warning or to even get up.

"We have to get up," Hermione said.

Severus reached up and pushed the table over, "Now we don't," he said, bringing his feet up, so that they weren't showing anymore.

"Severus," Hermione laughed, "he's going to know we're here."

"No he won't; the man can only see through cloaks, not tables. It would be wise for you to bring your feet up," Severus said, as their fireplace exploded with green flames.

Seeing as Hermione wasn't going to bring her feet up anytime soon, as she was too busy laughing like she had a little too much to drink, Severus rolled his eyes and had to reach down and pull her legs up.

"Hermione, you have to be quiet-"

"Hermione?" Dumbledore's head called, making Hermione snigger even more.

"Hermione," Severus whispered, "you _have_ to be quiet."

Hermione nodded and held her breath.

"Hermione?" Dumbledore called again, looking around their quarters for any source of life. "I have the information you were looking for, the ones about those islands; I also have the information about that potion-" He said, making Severus look at her strangely.

_Hermione_, Severus said, using legilimency. _You need to breathe_.

She shook her head, making Severus squeeze her side, causing Hermione to gasp for air. As soon as Hermione took a breath, Severus put his hand over her mouth; all while Dumbledore was talking to their cat, who had decided to coming out of hiding.

_You have to be quiet_; _no more laughing_. _Alright?_ Severus thought.

Hermione was about to nod, when she got a better idea.

_Don't you dare_, Severus thought, making Hermione smile underneath his hand.

"Well," Dumbledore said, "I guess you both already went down for breakfast. Strange though…I never would have thought that two people, especially you two, would leave home with table turned over. That is, unless you both left in a hurry so you wouldn't be late for another Hogsmeade visit; Minerva won't be pleased if you are, you know."

While Dumbledore was talking, Hermione stuck her tongue out and licked the palm of Severus's hand, making him withdraw it immediately and Hermione laughed.

Severus looked at Hermione, who had her eyes closed tightly, face screwed up in laughter, and who was also biting down on her tongue.

_You leave me no choice, Hermione_, Severus thought to her.

Hermione opened her eyes just in time for her to see Severus kiss her. The giggles immediately disappeared as she wrapped her arms around his neck and his free hand went to her waist.

After Dumbledore had said that he was going up to the Great Hall and the floo connection had ended, neither one had made any movement to get up, until Hermione noticed that Severus was bleeding.

"Severus," she said, holding him up with both of her arms so she could see his chest, "you're bleeding."

"I'll fix it when I get up."

_Fix it? Oh no, you're not going to fix it_; _there's a lesson in store here,_ Hermione thought to herself, hoping that Severus still wasn't listening in.

"Have you looked at your shirt?" He asked.

Hermione looked down and noticed that she had his blood on her pajamas.

"You got blood on me!"

"I can fix that," he said suggestively. "Besides, it was your cat that did it anyways."

_That's it! He's going to learn a lesson about whose cat it really is_.

"They're my silk pajamas, Severus; in case you haven't noticed and guess what, I haven't found a spell to completely fix them yet! And I'm serious Severus; we're going to be really late, we can continue this later…"

"Oh contraire, I don't have to go; you signed yourself up," he said, making Hermione's anger boil.

_Ooo, I swear, if we were still on the couch right now, he'd be on the floor_, Hermione thought, hoping that he _was _listening.

"Severus, get up," she said.

"What?"

"I have to get ready," she said, pushing him over onto the flipped over table, but not before grabbing his want from his pants.

When Severus felt Hermione's fingers at his elastic waistband, he froze.

"What are you doing?" He asked, looking down at her hand, "I thought you didn't want to be la-." He stopped when he saw his wand in her hand.

"You see this, Severus? It's your wand, which you won't be getting back for a long time."

"How am I going to heal what your cat did to me?" He said, making Hermione's face turn red.

"_My_ cat? Matches is yours too, Severus! How can you say that he's mine; he's attached to you like glue! This is why you're not going to get your wand back," she said, getting up.

"But-"

"And you're going to Hogsmeade with me today to shop. Yes Severus, I said shop; so don't look at me like that," she said, retreating to her room and slamming the door.

The only thing running through Severus's mind was Harry's words about Hermione holiday shopping and how long he was going to spend trying to fix what just happened. So, with a groan, he got up and retreated to his bedroom door.

Half and hour later, Hermione walked out of her bedroom, only to find that Severus was nowhere to be found. Stopping outside his bedroom door, Hermione listened for any source of life and she found it, when she heard him emit a slew of curses. Figuring out that he was most likely still trying to heal his cuts, she decided to see if she needed any help.

Cautiously opening his door, she walked into his rooms and then over towards his bathroom. Peaking around the corner, she found him trying to bandage up his wounds, while wearing a shirt. Hermione silently laughed as he swatted away the shirt, trying to clean out the large scratch. What made her smile even more was that Matches was sitting on the floor, looking up at him in curiosity and waging his tail.

Deciding to make herself known, she walked over to where Severus would see her through his mirror and put on an angry face with crossed arms. As soon as Severus saw her in his mirror, he whirled around.

"Do you need any help?" She asked.

"Are you going to give me my wand back?"

"No," she said and Severus turned his back to her again.

She watched as he tried to clean out the large scratch, but wasn't getting very far, while using the mirror. Deciding to help Severus out, she spun him around and grabbed the cloth from his hand.

"I don't need any hel-" he stopped when Hermione ripped the bandages that he already put on, right off of his chest.

"Oh please; you hardly have any hair on your chest," Hermione pointed out.

"That doesn't mean that it still doesn't hurt!"

Hermione glared at him through narrowed eyes, while turning on the hot water and rinsing off of the cloth. She then stuck it under hot water and without wringing it out, put it on his chest, making him jump.

"Merlin, Hermione! Why don't you just stick me in the shower with the hot water on?"

Pressing the cloth harder against his chest, she reached over and pushed open the curtain to the shower, with her free hand.

"I wasn't being serious!" He said through clenched teeth.

Hermione turned away and again using her free hand opened up Severus's medicine cabinet and started rummaging around. When she didn't find what she was looking for, she took out her wand and transfigured a bar of soap into a bottle of clear liquid.

She took the cloth off of Severus's chest, cleaned it, and then soaked it with the liquid. When she pressed it lightly against the scratch mark on his chest, Severus jumped about three feet in the air. Deciding against commenting or questioning her, Severus just decided to watch Hermione work and keep his mouth closed. After five minutes of silence, Hermione finally spoke.

"Why did you put a shirt on, when you're trying to clean your cuts?"

Sighing, Severus replied, "Because when I was done, all I had to do was button it up and throw on my robes, and it hopefully would have saved some time."

_Well, good thing he did have something on or he'd get his wish; we wouldn't be going at all,_ Hermione thought.

Fifteen minutes later, Severus and Hermione made their way up to the Entrance Hall, Hermione leading the way. When they entered the Hall, no one was anywhere to be found.

"Good," Severus said, "maybe we don't have to go after all. All that rushing was for nothing."

"Severus Snape!" McGonagall exclaimed, while Hermione glared daggers at him. "You're late again!"

"But I didn't-" He started, while Hermione's glare grew in intensity.

"Just because you two stay up late with each other, doesn't mean that you have to be late for already-scheduled things!" McGonagall said, making Hermione's face turn pink.

"You two have been late for every single Hogsmeade visit so far, doing – well, I don't want to know what you two were doing."

Hermione was just about to say something, but Severus had already started up again.

"It's none of your business what we do, Minerva," he hissed.

"Good, because I really don't want to know what you do behind closed doors-"

Before Hermione was going to tell McGonagall off, she stormed out of the Entrance Hall, making sure that the giant oak doors slammed on her way out. Severus stood rooted to his spot; staring at the last place he had seen her.

"Trouble in paradise?" McGonagall asked, making Severus glare at her. "You better go and fix it, Severus; she doesn't look to happy."

"I wonder why, Minerva," he said sarcastically. "Se was all worried about being here on time and then when we get here, you make everything worse."

"Well, I wouldn't have, you two didn't-"

"Didn't what, Minerva? Stay up late? We didn't stay up late; we haven't done anything at all!"

The old witch looked like she was going to say something, but Severus didn't care.

"Hermione still has her own room! Do you want to see why we're late?" He asked, while Minerva just stared back at him.

"This is why we're late," he said, somehow managing to expose the top of several bandages.

"Oh my God, Severus; what happened?" She asked.

"It's none of your business what we do behind closed doors, remember?" He asked, storming out of the Hall after Hermione, also letting the door slam on his way out.

"Never a more perfect match," McGonagall said, turning around, only to find several students, including Janie and her two friends, watching the door in awe from the staircase.

---

After Severus had caught up with Hermione, it had taken two shops for him to get her to talk. She finally decided to listen when they were outside the ice cream shop, because Severus had asked her if she wanted any chocolate ice cream.

Sitting down inside the shop, he told Hermione about the conversation he had with McGonagall while she ate her ice cream and surprisingly, she started talking to him again. Hermione, of course, had brought up Severus's wand and how and why he wasn't going to get it back anytime soon.

After Hermione had finished her ice cream, she dragged Severus into almost every shop in the town. The only time she stopped, was when the shops were overflowing with students, to the point where Hermione couldn't even get through the door to some of them. Instead of going into one of the pubs or restaurants, as Hermione had suggested, Severus lead her back to the clearing that they had once visited before with Janie.

While they were there, it started to softly snow, making the scenery look even more beautiful. When it was time to go back into Hogsmeade, Hermione reluctantly agreed. On the way back into Hogsmeade, Hermione told Severus all about her love for snow; especially when it was falling.

"I love snow," Hermione announced.

"You do?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow as they slowly walked back to Hogsmeade.

"Everything just seems so peaceful, not to mention romantic; especially when it's falling down softly. It seems as id the world just stops and all of its problems don't exist anymore…" Hermione said, stopping to look up at the tops of the trees, which were starting to slowly collect the falling snow.

Severus watched as the snow got caught in Hermione's hair and then noticed her rosy cheeks and he realized how beautiful she looked like that. All different thoughts started to pop up in his head again, like they have been all week and he didn't notice that Hermione had walked away.

"Severus," Hermione said. "You can stop looking at me like that now…Severus!" She exclaimed, making him jump.

"What?"

"You were still staring at me when I wasn't there," she said, referring to the split second that she had walked away.

"I was just thinking," he said absentmindedly.

"About what?"

"What?" He asked.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Why?"

"I was just curious," she said innocently, hoping that he would answer her.

Severus looked up at the sky and then down towards the path; sticking his hands inside his pockets, he said, "You."

"Me?"

_I knew I shouldn't have told her_, Severus thought to himself.

"About what you said about the snow…" He added.

_He's lying_, Hermione thought; _he's definitely leaving something out_.

"You're lying – there's more," she said, looking up at him.

He looked at her strangely.

"You're avoiding making eye contact with me," she stated.

He looked at her and then looked ahead of where he was walking and smirked.

"Do you really want to know?" He asked her.

"Does Dumbledore need help? Yes I want to know!"

"Well, I was just thinking about what you left me hanging at, after you pushed me onto the table."

"About that-"

"And then, I was wondering, if that person would like to continue what we were doing later…"

"Really? That's what you were thinking about?" She asked hopefully.

"No," he said.

"Severus!" She exclaimed, pushing him, which surprisingly made him smile. "You got my hopes up…for nothing!" She said, as Severus regained his ability to walk straight again. "So, now, I'm going to go and get that hope restored," she said, grabbing onto his hand, "because we're going into Honeydukes."

---

Hours later, when all the students were eating dinner, Severus and Hermione returned, full of snow. By the time Hermione had pulled out her wand to get rid of the snow, it had already melted. She would have dried them both off with a quick spell, but the sight that met their eyes, made Hermione almost drop her wand. Putting her wand safely back inside her pocket, she looked at the spectacular sight before them.

"Merlin; he decorated while we were gone," Severus said, gawking at the Entrance Hall, which was brightly decorated with lights, snowflakes, other holiday things, and a large Christmas tree in every corner.

"It's better than when I was here at Hogwarts," Hermione said, staring in awe at the decorations. "He even put up more mistletoe," she pointed out, making Severus glance above his head.

"Do you want to go into the Great Hall, for something to eat?" Severus asked, trying to change the subject.

"You can if you want to; I'm fine right now," she said, continuing to look at the Hall.

"No, I was just seeing if you wanted anything, before we went back to our quarters," he said.

"No, I'm fine; thanks though," Hermione said, as Severus turned and started to walk through the Hall.

Hermione went to follow him, but stopped when she saw mistletoe hanging at the entrance to the dungeons. Getting an idea, she took out her wand and moved it towards the inside of the corridor, right before the wall and then whispered a spell. Seeing another one nearby, she levitated it to the center of the same corridor, right near the one she had previously levitated. By the time Hermione had caught up with Severus, he was already in the corridor.

"Severus," Hermione said, moving over towards his right side. "You better watch where you're going," she said, pointing at the ceiling, a few feet in front of him.

When he looked up at the mistletoe, his eyes grew slightly larger and then he moved towards the left, about to walk under one that he hadn't seen.

_Perfect_, Hermione thought.

Hermione smirked to herself at what was about to happen to Severus, thanks to the wonderful charm she had used. Hermione kept on walking, even after she had heard that Severus's footsteps had stopped and then a groan. Hermione spun around to find Severus with his arms crossed, glaring at her.

"Severus, what happened?" She asked, sounding confused.

"What does it look like?" He asked, gesturing to the object above his head and then crossed his arms again.

"Sorry Severus, but it looks like you're stuck," Hermione said, turning around and biting the bottom of her lip, to keep herself from laughing at the look of annoyance on his face.

"Albus has never put any of these wretched things here before and no student has ever had the brains to charm it so only one person would get caught under-"

Hermione wiped the smirk off of her face and then turned around to find him glaring at her again.

"Hermione," he said through gritted teeth.

"What; I didn't do anything," she said.

"You…you did this," he said. "Can you _please_ get me unstuck now, seeing as I don't have my wand."

"Sure, I can get you unstuck, but there's only one way to do it," she said, slowly moving towards him.

Before Severus could say anything else, Hermione pushed him against the wall, his arms flying to his sides and kissed him. When she pulled herself away, she saw a mysterious glint flash across his eyes and before she knew what was going on, he grabbed her arms and kissed her back.

After they had pulled away, they just stared at each other, a longing in both their eyes. But before either one of them could speak, they were granted with an unwanted presence.

"What do you two think you're doing?" McGonagall asked, waving a roll of parchment in the air. "I thought you two already had the discussion about what is appropriate in the corridors."

"But it wasn't our fault," Hermione, pointing above their head, "we got stuck."

"Stuck? Oh please; I saw you two from down the corridor – you sure didn't look stuck to me. Now, let's see, that'll be detention for the both of you – seven o'clock on Monday night; come to my office," she said and walked away. "And don't be late," she called from over her shoulder.

"Detention? Professors can't get detention!" Hermione exclaimed, with an angry look on her face.

"Apparently, they can," Severus said.

---

When they returned to their quarters, they found Janie sitting on their couch. When they came in, she looked up.

"Hi Mum. Hi Dad," she said.

"Janie, what are you doing here; how did you get in?" Hermione asked.

"Nice to see you too, Mum. McGonagall had me floo into your quarters, because she wants to speak to you about something," Janie told her.

"Do you know what?" Hermione asked.

"No; she wouldn't tell me," Janie replied. "But she did say that she wanted you to floo to her office and that Dad can't come. I believe her exact words were, 'And tell them that is your father shows up at my door with her, Dumbledore _will_ find out exactly what happened in the corridor,' whatever that means."

Severus looked amused, "She even got McGonagall's hand movements down."

"Severus!"

"You have to admit, Hermione, she does do a good impersonation of Minerva."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she walked over to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder. Pulling out her wand, she ignited a fire and then threw the handful of floo powder into the now-roaring flames. Before Hermione stepped into the fire, she shot Severus an apologetic look.

"Oh Janie, before I leave, is there anything else you needed to talk about?"

"No, not really; just remember that my birthday's in a week," Janie said, using a sing-song voice for the last part.

Hermione smiled and shook her head, before disappearing in an explosion of green flames.

---

Hermione had returned a few hours later, only to find out that Janie was still there and that she had talked her father's ear off, the whole time. Deciding now to break-up their discussion, Hermione went to her office to finish grading papers. When she returned an hour later, Janie was still there.

After several unsuccessful attempts at getting Janie to go back to her dormitory for the night, she only ended up spending the night.

Almost all day Sunday was spent with the two trying to finish grading their papers and for the very first time, Hermione had more to grade than Severus did (this was partially because Severus had lost a bet from Janie and he couldn't give any of the first years homework for three days). Hermione had tried giving him papers to correct, but after he had made a few rude comments on some of the papers, she told him that she didn't need his help and for him to go and plan his lessons.

Monday was almost as uneventful as the previous day, except for Hermione worrying what McGonagall was going to make them do for the detention. The Head of Gryffindor had needed Hermione Saturday night, to help her with her Transfiguration supplied. While doing that, the old lady decided to bring up certain things with Hermione, about her activities in the corridor that she never wanted to hear again (and she certainly wasn't going to tell Severus any of it).

When the classes were over, she was shocked to find Severus already sitting in their quarters; usually, he was still in his office. It had turned out that Dumbledore had kicked him out of his last two classes – double potions with the first years. Upon listening in for five minutes to one of the classes, he had found out that Dumbledore had them brewing one of the messiest potions to date. And when he had found Janie in the hallway, she told him of what a mess the cauldrons made and how Dumbledore told them not to clean up and to leave their areas alone. Before either one of them knew it, Severus and Hermione were waiting outside of the Head of Gryffindor's office.

"Ah good, you're here...and on time too!" The old witch said, stepping out of her office, shutting the door and then warding it.

Hermione gave Severus a confused look as they started to follow McGonagall, straight back down to the dungeons.

"What are we doing down here, Minerva? You could have met us down here!" Severus said.

"Then it wouldn't really be a detention then, would it?" McGonagall said, causing two glares to be forwarded in her direction.

"Oh good, you're both here; thank you, Minerva," a voice said from behind them.

Hermione spun around, but Severus didn't even have to think to know who the voice belonged to.

"Dumbledore," he growled, turning around.

"Nice to see you too, Severus; Minerva tells me that you both have earned yourself a detention. I was hoping that she was only pulling my leg, but here you both are," Dumbledore said, with the smallest trace of a twinkle in his eye.

"Now Minerva, I believe that is all; you may go back to whatever you were doing."

McGonagall looked scandalized. She looked from Severus to Hermione and then towards Dumbledore.

Severus looked at McGonagall, who still stood rooted to her spot and then glanced at Hermione, ever-so-slightly out of the corner of his eye.

"I remember what I said, Severus. Besides, since you two can't seem to keep your hands off of each other-"

"Then you're going to hate having to be in the same room working together, _without_ being able to speak or help each other," McGonagall interrupted.

Dumbledore shot his fellow colleague an unpleasant look, "Thank you, Minerva," he said, ushering the two inside and closing the door, leaving McGonagall on the outside.

When Severus saw the condition his classroom was in, his jaw just about hit the floor.

"My…my…Dumbledore, _what in the name of __**Merlin**_ did you do to my classroom?"

:For your detention tonight, you both will scrub the classroom down, along with all the cauldrons, all while using no magic," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the filthy classroom. "Oh and you two _cannot _help each other, or anything of the sort," he added in.

Severus and Hermione looked around at the sticky classroom in shock. All the cauldrons were still on the student's tables, where they overflowed was still visible, and the tables and floor were covered in a sticky mass of purple and green slime.

"What are you two waiting for – let's get cleaning!" Dumbledore said, sitting down at Severus's desk, which made him scowl.

"And Severus, it might be a little hard to _properly_ clean everything, while wearing those robes," the old wizard added, making Severus's scowl grow in intensity.

---

An hour and a half later, they were still in detention, but had moved onto cleaning the many cauldrons. They had tried cleaning them at tables that were next to each other, but Dumbledore had sent them to the back of the room – one on each side.

_This is so boring_, Hermione thought, stealing a glance at Severus, who looked equally as bored.

Smirking to herself, she pulled out her wand and whispered a spell, pointing the tip of her wand at the back of Severus's neck. A thin blue stream shot from her wand and hit him in the back of his neck, making him jump up and turn around. Seeing Hermione's reaction, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand, twirling it with his fingers, which made Hermione's draw drop.

"Severus, put that wand away," Dumbledore said, not looking up from the papers that he was reading.

"_How did you get that?"_ Hermione mouthed over to him.

"_You know, you look _awfully cute_ when you're sleeping,_ Severus thought, with the help of legilimency.

Hermione gaped at him, "_You went into my room…while I was _sleeping?"

"_And you're saying it's a bad thing_..." he thought, making Hermione send him a narrowed-eyed glare in his direction. _Well, what did you want me to do – you wouldn't give me my wand back_."

"_If you woke me up and scared me, you would have been at the receiving end of a hex-_"

"_Hex? You would have jumped me if I woke you up_," Severus said.

"_No I wouldn't have_," Hermione defended.

"_Oh please, I would have probably ended up on the floor or the bed_," Severus told her.

"_Not if I was too tired to see…_"

"No talking, you two," Dumbledore said, still not glancing up from his paper, "even as interesting as the ending part may have been getting."

Hermione looked annoyed and then turned around, while Severus shot out a blue jet of water that wrapped itself around Hermione's legs. In one quick movement, it tugged at her legs, giving someone the illusion tat she slipped in water. Hearing a small "splash," and then a louder "thud," Dumbledore looked up.

"Are we alright, Ms. Granger?" He asked.

"Yes; I just slipped," she said, getting up, sending a glare at Severus's back, once he had resumed back to reading.

Hermione waited five minutes to fire another spell off at him. As soon as the words left her mouth, his legs went rigid. Turning his upper body around, he sent her a menacing glare. Hermione smiled at him and then turned back around.

Severus whispered the counter spell to unlock his legs and then took his wand back out, only to quickly put it away again.

"Put it away, Severus or I'll take it away," Dumbledore said, like he was talking to one of his students.

Grumbling, Severus turned back around and spotted a bucket to his left. Acting like he was going to use it, he filled it up with soap and water. Taking the bucket with him, he walked a little farther than the middle of the room and got the bucket ready.

"_Hermione_," he called, making her spin around.

As soon as Hermione started to turn, he threw the bucket of water at her, which hit her in the face as soon as she turned around. She couldn't think at the moment, so she just let the water drip down her face with her mouth wide open.

By the time Dumbledore heard the water hit the floor, Snape was already back to his original spot, scrubbing a cauldron.

"Ms. Granger," Dumbledore said. "What is the problem?"

Hermione shook her head and then wiped her eyes.

"Something has to be wrong, you're soaking wet and dripping on your nice clean floors, I might add," Dumbledore added.

While Dumbledore was talking, Hermione spotted another bucket and also filled it up with soap and water.

"Ms. Granger, what are you doing?"

"The problem is Professor," Hermione said, walking over to Severus with the bucket, "that _someone _needs to take a shower."

Severus turned around at that point and got a bucket full of soapy water in his face. He seemed to know that something along the lines was coming his way, because right before the water hit him, he closed his eyes and mouth tightly and held his breath.

"See, now I'm not the only one wet anymore," she said, shoving the bucket against Severus's chest with a smile.

Dumbledore just watched in amusement as Severus blindly grabbed onto the bucket. Once he had set the bucket down and cleared the water away from his eyes, he looked around and spotted a yellow sponge, filled with a gooey purple substance. Getting an idea, he picked up the sponge and threw it at Hermione's back, making her freeze. Her hand slowly went to her back and felt the thick substance that was now stuck to the back of her shirt.

"Tell me that you did not just throw a dirty sponge at my back," she said slowly.

"It would be lying if I did," he replied.

Dumbledore again watched in amusement as things flew across the room, until somehow, something foul smelling, hit him in the face. Cleaning the mess off of his face, Dumbledore decided to let them in on some bad news.

"I believe now, that you two are doing more harm than good to the task at hand," he said, motioning towards the once-again messy classroom.

The two stopped and looked at the large mess that they had made around them.

"Too bad too; you were just about done. It's a shame that you're going to have to do it all over again," Dumbledore said with a twinkle. "Oh and would you both do me a favor?"

The two looked at him like he was crazy.

"Please bring your wands up here; you can have them when you're done," he said and the two grudgingly made their way up to the front of the classroom, not knowing that it wouldn't be until well passed ten o'clock that they would finally be able to return to their quarters.

---

After breakfast on Saturday morning, Hermione was patiently waiting for Janie to arrive and when it was time for lunch and Janie still hadn't shown up, Hermione was beginning to worry.

"She's fine, Hermione," Severus said. "I don't know why you're worrying so much."

"It's her birthday, Severus," Hermione said.

"Yes, I know; but-"

"Janie us usually down early for her birthday and the first words out of her mouth are usually, 'what did you get me'. She didn't even warn me like usual!"

"You're not around her everyday, like usual," Severus pointed out.

"Yes, but-" Hermione was interrupted by an owl dropping two letters on her plate. "It's a bit late for mail, isn't it?" She asked Severus, who shrugged.

Hermione looked at the first letter and when she went to look at the second letter, she quickly put the first one back over the green envelope.

"What's that?" Severus asked, pointing at the envelope that she was trying to hide.

"Oh, nothing, just one of my old friends; nothing really," she said, stuffing the green envelope inside of her pocket.

"Then why are you acting so weird?" Severus asked her.

"I haven't heard from her in awhile," Hermione lied quickly, opening the other envelope. "Oh no," she said, "I forgot."

"About what?" Severus asked

"My parents," Hermione said, opening the letter up. "I haven't talked to them…since only God knows when," she said, reading the letter.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Hi dear, how is everything at the school you're teaching at? You must be very busy, seeing as we haven't heard from you in awhile_; _we understand that you've been probably have been really busy with everything; you're a Professor now, after all_._ After we sent Janie's gift off, your father asked me if you were coming this year on Christmas Eve and I had forgotten to ask you_. _It would be just wonderful if you and Janie could come on Christmas Eve_; _we really miss you and look forward to seeing you both_. _If you find out that you can't make it, please send a letter letting us know_.

_Love,_

_Mum and Dad_

"Is there anything wrong?" Severus asked, once she was done reading the letter.

"No," Hermione said. "Hey Severus, what are we doing for the holidays?"

Severus was a bit put-off at how immediate she asked the question, because she usually danced around the questions and asked them indirectly.

"Well," he said. "I was sort of hoping that you and Janie would come and stay with me during the winter holidays," he asked uneasily.

Hermione's eyes lit up at this, "Really?"

He nodded.

"I'd love to!" She exclaimed. "Are you really sure?"

"Yes," he said, trying hard to hide his smile.

"There's one…problem; well, actually two," she said, praying that he wouldn't mind.

"What are they?" He asked slowly.

"Well, I usually go to my parents on Christmas Eve," she said.

"And the other?"

"This one, you're probably not going to like…but for Christmas, I usually go for Christmas dinner at the Burrow."

Severus seemed to consider this for a few moments and decided that doing this for Hermione was a small price to pay for everything good that has recently happened to him.

"Fine," he said.

Hermione would have hugged him, but they were in the Great Hall, eating lunch and she didn't want to draw attention, so she settled with a sincere 'thank you'.

"Thanks so much, Severus," she said.

"No, thank you," he said, making Hermione look at him curiously. "See the house I live in now, it's pretty big and it would be really lonely if I stayed there by myself over the holidays, which is usually why I stay at the school."

"How big is this 'house' that you're talking about?" Hermione asked.

"Before my grandmother died, she gave me her family's manor," he replied.

---

They weren't even back in their quarters for five minutes, when someone was knocking at their door. When Severus opened the door, he was met with the sight of a smiling Janie. But before anybody could say, "Happy birthday," she quickly walked into the room and apologized.

"Sorry I'm so late, but Lyss and Matt gave me their presents, then we went outside, and Hagrid was out and then he gave me a present too."

"Hagrid gave you a present?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I visit him every week; by the way, he's been looking for you, Mum. So anyways, what'd you get me?" Janie asked.

"Janie-" her father started.

"Sorry Dad, I have to say it _every _year; it really gets on her nerves," she said, whispering the last part to her father, while pointing at her mother.

"Before you ask me what I want to do Mum, I'll tell you. Being at Hogwarts, you don't get to certain foods and I have this awful taste for spaghetti…"

"Do you want to go out for it?" Hermione asked.

"No…"

"Do you want it from the kitchens?" Her father asked.

"No…"

"Then where?" Hermione asked.

"I want _your_ spaghetti, Mum," Janie said. "The spaghetti you used to make…with garlic bread."

"I can't make that here," she said.

"You can conjure up the ingredients," Severus said.

"Nope; it won't taste the same," Janie said. "Can't we go back home and you make it there?"

"But Harry and Ron cleaned my kitchen out before I left for Hogwarts," Hermione said.

_Figures_, Severus thought to himself.

"So," Janie said, "you can go to the store."

"All my money is in Wizarding currency," Hermione said.

"I have money hidden _and_ I also happen to know that _you_ have money hidden," Janie said.

"How do you know about that?" Hermione asked.

"I stumbled upon it," Janie said casually.

"But there were charms protecting it," Hermione said.

"Now when I found it."

"Wait, why were you looking around in places that you shouldn't have been?" Hermione asked.

"I was looking for something," Janie said. "Besides, I'm a kid – we're supposed to secretly go through out parent's things every once in a while," she added, purposefully leaving out the reason as to why she was snooping around in her mother's things in the first place.

_Oh, that's nice to know_, Severus thought.

Sighing, Hermione answered Janie's previous question.

"I suppose that we can leave Hogwarts for a few hours," Hermione said, looking at Severus, who had watched the two's conversation with interest.

"Don't even bother asking Dumbledore; he'll just try to find a way to intervene," Severus said.

"Yes!" Janie exclaimed, hugging both of her parents. "Now, I think that we should do gifts, so that we don't have to lug them with us," she added, smiling.

"Are you sure, because we can just wait until we get back," Hermione said.

"No!" Janie shouted, making her parents stare at her in shock. "I mean, why wait?" She asked, putting her arms behind her back and smiling.

"Alright," Hermione said and left to get Janie her presents.

Twenty minutes later, Janie had finished opening her presents and had the audacity to ask if there were more. Even though she was joking, it had annoyed Severus and Hermione to no end, because she did not have twenty minutes of gifts to unwrap. Her explanation for this was 'I had to try it out. For my birthday, Uncles Fred and George sent me a book (among other things, she added quietly), on how to annoy your parents – and it was written by themselves!'

As Janie flipped through one of the several books she got, Severus disappeared from the room. When he came back, holding another package, he found Janie adding her new charm to her charm bracelet (Severus had had a long talk with Hermione about the 'present' that he had 'sent' her every year).

"Janie, I think you've missed a present," he said, showing her the large box, which was wrapped in green and silver paper.

When Hermione saw the box, she rolled her eyes, _Typical Severus_.

Janie got up and was standing next to her father in a breaking-neck speed. Hermione watched as Janie tore open the neatly wrapped package and then both of their jaws just about hit the floor.

"Oh…my…gods," was all that Janie could get out.

"Severus…" Hermione said in an angered and shocked voice.

"Dad…this is the _Phoenix Feather 3000_! It doesn't come out until next year!" She said, staring in awe at her new broomstick. "How did you get one of these!?"

"An old student owed me a few favors and he just so happened to be in the racing business," he said. "So, do you like it?"

"Like it? _Like _it? I LOVE IT!" She said, jumping up to give her father a hug.

"I can't believe you got her a broomstick," Hermione said.

"I can't believe he was able to get me _this_ broomstick!" Janie exclaimed. "It's supposed to be the _best _broomstick _ever_ made! Boy, Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron are going to totally flip their lids when they find out what _my_ Dad for me for my birthday," Janie said, he voice full of glee.

Hermione walked up to Severus, "I can't believe you got her a broomstick, after what just happened."

"Hermione, I wouldn't buy her something that she couldn't handle. Besides, that was well over a month ago and she's running around like she was before the accident even happened," Severus said.

"But I don't want it to happen again."

"She's going to keep playing Quidditch, whether we like it or not and the broom I bought her is also supposed to be the safest in the world," Severus said. "It's charmed not to break."

Hermione didn't hear the last part, because she was too caught up on his words after 'Quidditch'.

"Wait – 'whether _we_ like it or not'?" Hermione asked.

"I never said that I felt completely comfortable with our daughter playing Quidditch; watching some of the accidents here would make even Potter afraid to mount a broomstick," he said.

"But you still got her the broom," she stated.

"Yes-"

"Dad, this must have cost you a _fortune_! Look at the detail on the handle!" Janie exclaimed, examining her new broomstick. "And, you got it _months_ before it was supposed to come out, too!" She added, making Hermione send him a look that didn't seem what she was going to say to him was going to be very pleasant.

---

During dinner, Janie told her parents everything that she had gotten for her birthday, leaving out hardly any details. After dinner, while her parents put away the dishes, Janie went up to her room. When she came back down, she found her mother putting candles on a cake.

"Don't forget to make a wish," Hermione reminded Janie, right before she was about to blow out her candles.

Janie looked at her parents and then smiled.

_Perfect,_ she thought as she blew out the candles on her cake.

After Hermione had cut the cake and passed it out, she decided to ask a question.

"So Janie, what did you wish for?" She asked casually, while sitting down.

"Mum, if I told you that, then it wouldn't come true," Janie said. "But, I do have a question…or rather like, another wish."

"Alright," Hermione said.

"Well, spending a lot of time around Lyss and Matt is fun and everything, but they fight…a lot and sometimes, I feel sort of left out. While they bicker back and forth, it makes me almost wish that I had someone to bicker with too."

_Oh no, here it comes…_Hermione thought.

"So, do you know the question that I've been _dying_ to ask?" Janie said.

"What?" Hermione asked and then took a drink from her pumpkin juice.

"Where's my baby brother!?" Janie exclaimed.

As soon as the words left Janie's mouth, Hermione spit all of the pumpkin juice in her mouth, out onto the table and Severus started gagging on the piece of cake he had just swallowed.

"What?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Where…is my…_little_ brother?" She asked again.

Both her parents stared at her like they were dumbfounded.

"C'mon, it's not that hard; all you have to do is-"

"JANIE!" Severus and Hermione both gasped together.

"It's not that simple," Severus said.

"Sure it is," Janie replied.

Severus looked at Hermione, sending her a look that clearly stated that he was not getting involved and that it was her job.

"_You're not getting out of this one_," Hermione mouthed over to Severus, "_she's you daughter too_."

"_Exactly_; _she's my daughter and I'm not having that conversation with her…that's your job_," he mouthed back.

As soon as Janie saw the looks on her parent's faces, she high-tailed it out of the room.

"I think that I'm going to call one of my long-lost friends and have a long talk, that includes _lots_ of catching-up," Janie said as she practically ran from the room.

"Well, that was easy," Severus said.

"Easy? Nobody even talked to her," Hermione said.

"Just let her be; it's her birthday," Severus said.

"Yes, but she's going to have to know eventually," she pointed out.

"Know what eventually? She's probably already read it in a book," he said.

"Not that," Hermione said.

"What then?" He asked.

"Our current situation."

"'Current situation'? What 'situation'?" He asked, suddenly getting an idea.

"This situation?" He asked, motioning between them, "or this one?" He asked, closing in on the distance between them, all while forcing Hermione into a corner.

"And this situation may definitely need an explanation," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Start explaining then," Hermione said. "I need some help…Professor."

"Indeed," he said, a small smirk appearing on his face, but disappearing as soon as he kissed her.

As Hermione kissed him back, she moved them away, so that she wasn't in the corner anymore. As things started to heat up, he started to move them down the hallway, ending up at a closed door, which Hermione kicked open.

They continued their way into Hermione's room, until they reached Hermione's bed and she stopped.

"Is this the situation you were talking about?" Hermione asked breathlessly.

"No, but it could work," he said, pushing Hermione backwards and shut the door.

Right as he leaned over her, they heard a noise from upstairs, which Severus ignored.

"Janie," Hermione stated.

"What?" He asked.

"Janie's coming, Severus," she said.

"So?"

"What are you going to do if she sees us like this?" Hermione asked.

"Knowing her, she'll be happy; she might even get her baby brother-"

"SEVERUS!" Hermione exclaimed. "You really need to get off me," Hermione informed him.

"But-"

"Please?" Hermione asked him, getting help from her big brown eyes.

"Mum…Dad!" Janie called.

"Dammit Janie," Severus hissed, slowly getting off of the bed, which wasn't quick enough for Hermione, because she tried jumping off of it, but kneed Severus instead.

When Hermione turned around, she found him on the floor and realized what she did.

"Oh my gods, Severus; I'm so sorry!" She said, bending over, trying to help him up, when Janie came to the door.

"Mum…Dad!" She called again.

"You can come in," he mother said.

When Janie came in the room, she froze, "Oww!" She observed, "Dad got kicked where the 'sun-don't-shine'!" Janie then turned to her mother, who was trying to help Severus up, "What did you do, Mum? I might never get a baby brother now!"

Hermione searched for what to say, but couldn't find any words. So, instead of saying anything intelligible, all that came out were a bunch of butchered words.

"Wow, the great Hermione Granger reduced to almost speechlessness," Severus said sarcastically, through half-gritted teeth.

"I'm really sorry Severus; I _really_ didn't mean to do that," she said, once he was on his feet again.

"You know, I'm starting to think that it's harm-the-Potions-Master-month," he said.

It took Hermione several seconds for her to realize what he meant. After the cat, the detention, _and_ what she just did to him, she started to feel slightly guilty.

"At least the holidays are less than two weeks away; I think everybody needs a break," Hermione said.

"What I need right now, is a drink," Severus said, looking at Hermione.

"Why would you think that I'd have liquor?" Hermione asked him, making Severus narrow his eyes at her.

"On the top shelf, above all the potion ingredients, in my lab," she said with a sigh.

While Severus left to go and retrieve what he wanted, Janie turned to her mother, "Mum, what are we doing for the holidays?"

"Oh," Hermione said. "We're going to you father's."

"He doesn't stay at the school?" Janie asked.

"Not all the time," Hermione said. "He told me that his grandmother gave him some sort of estate a short while ago."

"His grandmother?"

_What about my grandmother_? Janie thought.

Hermione nodded.

"And Dad's rich? I never knew that!" Janie said, as Severus returned and mentally laughed at the look on Hermione's face.

"Dad, I didn't know that you're loaded," Janie said.

"He's not 'loaded,' Janie," Hermione said. "Tell her that you're not loaded, Severus," Hermione said to him, out of the corner of her mouth.

"It's just some money that one of my relatives left me," he said.

"Can I ask you a question?" Janie asked her father.

"Sure," he said.

"Was your relative a pureblood?" Janie asked, making both of her parents freeze at her question.

"Yes," Severus answered slowly.

"Yep; you're loaded," Janie said, skipping out of the room.

"I can't wait until the holidays," Severus muttered.

"I know the feeling," Hermione agreed.

---

**A/N: Again, I hope that nobody minds that I used the song on here. Thanks again to all of you who have read the story so far and reviewed; it's really appreciated! And thanks to the people who have helped me on this chapter, it's also really appreciated - I couldn't have finished it without you!**


	22. Hanging by a Moment

**Disclaimer: My lawyer (wait, I have a lawyer?) informed me that I have to tell you, that I have nothing to do with Harry Potter (except Janie and Zeek…) and that J.K. Rowling owns it all and is making all the money (leaving me with only birthday money, so…I guess I did get something after all! Lawyer narrows eyes and advises the author to take back the following comment. So, I guess I've made my point; I don't own Harry Potter (no matter how much I try to buy certain characters) and I'm not making any money with that said, author runs away from lawyer, before he brings on the lawsuits from all the angry readers, with the account of taking forever to update.**

**I'm really sorry (and feel really, really bad) that I couldn't update this. It actually would have been up in the beginning of the month, but both my computers decided to stop working on me (luckily, one works now). Well, here's the next chapter, hope you like it! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention in the last author note, on the last chapter, that the part where Hermione talks about her love for snow, it does have a point to it, so watch out for it in this chapter.**

---

"What is taking her so long?" Severus asked, waiting to leave Hogwarts.

"I don't know; she probably waited until when she woke up to pack," Hermione said.

"It shouldn't take her hours to pack," Severus pointed out.

"Yes, but it is the first time that she's going to her father's," she said, getting narrowed eyes from Severus. "Alright, I'll go see what's taking her so long," she said and then left.

After ten minutes, Hermione's boxes on the kitchen table looked awfully interesting to Severus. Hermione's old quarters had been finally safe enough to go back into and Dumbledore had asked her if she wanted to move back in, which she practically shouted "no" at. So instead, she and Severus went and removed all of her belongings and brought them back to their quarters. Finally able to see what she had, Severus walked over and peeked into one of the boxes.

When he peered into one of the boxes, he found several green letters that were tucked away, which caught his attention; they were the same green envelopes as the one Hermione had received on Janie's birthday. When he looked at the writing on the front of the envelope and then at the seal on the back, his anger rose; the letters were sent from Zeek Malfoy, not her friend.

Normally, because it was Hermione, he would have left them, but not after what had happened earlier in the year with him. He took out the first letter and saw that it was only dated two days ago. After he had read the letter, his anger rose even more. Even though he knew he was only reading half of a conversation, he had found out that Hermione was going to meet the young Malfoy at a muggle bar, sometime soon. Deciding to see whether or not Hermione would tell him, he decided not to question her about it, but it didn't stop him from reading two more letters.

A short while later, Hermione returned with Janie in toll.

"Sorry Dad, " Janie said. "I didn't know what to bring."

"It's alright; everybody ready to go?" He asked, happy that he was finally able to get out of the school and away from the rest of the staff.

Hermione and Janie nodded.

"Good," Severus said, walking to the door and holding it open for them.

"Wait, I thought we were flooing," Hermione said.

"No, we're apparating," Severus said. "I didn't leave for an entire day, just to fix up the inside."

Once they were standing at the apparation point, Severus had asked if anybody had forgotten anything, because he was not coming back to the school, any earlier than he had to.

"Severus, if you don't mind me asking, but how are we going to all get there?" Hermione asked, still angry that he wouldn't tell her where to apparate to.

"I'm apparating-" Severus started, but Hermione interrupted him.

"All of us?" Hermione asked.

"Yes-"

"With all of our luggage? Are you nuts? You can't apparate three people with their luggage - even if it _is_ shrunken," she said.

"But-"

"What if you accidentally splinch someone?" She asked.

"'Splinch?'" Janie asked.

"We'll talk about it later," Hermione said.

"I'm not going to splinch anyone," Severus said, trying to defend himself.

"Please?" Hermione asked, her eyes showing him her concern.

"Fine," he said, "Janie, come here."

Janie walked over to her father and Severus grabbed her hand. Hermione's jaw hit the floor when he disappeared with their daughter with only a 'pop.'

When Severus arrived with Janie, he immediately spoke, "Don't open your eyes yet."

"Alright," Janie said.

"I'll be right back," he said, "I have to go and get your mother now, before she tries to get here by herself."

Janie giggled.

"What's so funny?" Her father asked.

"The look on Mum's face, right before we left," Janie said.

---

Hermione stood with her arms crossed, glaring at the last spot that she had seen Severus and Janie. She really didn't mind that he took Janie first, but could have at least said something, instead leaving without a word. But, what she didn't know was that Severus had apparated to Hogsmeade and was currently walking back towards Hermione.

Quietly walking up behind Hermione, he wrapped his arms around her waist, making her jump.

"I hope you didn't think that I was going to leave you here," he whispered into her ear.

Hermione spun around and breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh - it's just you...Severus, you scared the crap out of me!" She said, hitting his shoulder.

He smirked.

"It's not funny-"

"Close your eyes," he said.

"What? Why?"

"Trust me," he said and disappeared with another 'pop.'

---

When Janie heard her father reappear next to her, she asked, "Can I open my eyes yet?"

"Not ye-"

"He made you close your eyes too?" Hermione asked her daughter.

"Yeah," Janie said.

"Alright," Severus said, "open your eyes."

As soon as the two opened their eyes, they gasped. The first thing that they saw, was the sight of his manor; neither one could believe that he lived in such a...large house, not to mention beautiful. To the left of his manor was a forest, and to the right was an open field with a garden in the back. But what Janie liked the most was the large tree that stood to her right, on the front lawn.

"Can I go in?" Janie asked, looking at her dad, who nodded.

"Thanks Dad," Janie said and took off running towards the large house.

"I can't believe you live here," Hermione said as they slowly started to walk up the barely-visible path, the small amount of snow crunching under their feet.

"If only I could live here," he replied.

Hermione looked at him in confusion, "But it's such a marvelous house on the outside...I can only imagine what it looks like on the inside; I bet it must be gorgeous and with the size-" Hermione stopped, remembering their conversation that they had had before on Janie's birthday.

_Wow, he really is lonely here all by himself_; _I really didn't think that he...of all people would be_, Hermione thought.

When Hermione went to open her mouth, Severus cut her off from stating the obvious.

"That's why I had to come here before you and Janie did; I try not to stay here very often. Sometimes, I'll come for a week during the summer vacation, to make sure that there's nothing wrong and that the house elves have everything under con-"

"House elves? You have house elves?" Hermione asked.

"Just a few - they keep everything running while I'm not there. Besides, they came with the house," he replied as he stepped up and opened the door for Hermione, who as soon as she saw the inside, almost dropped the bundle she was holding, which contained Matchbox.

To her left was a hallway and to her right was a fairly-sized sitting room, with a fireplace. There was another hallway next to the sitting room and then another leading out from the room, but what really caught her eye was the dark oak staircase. It lead up to only one floor, but the floor it did lead up to, only had one side with doors to it. The other side, which was facing them, was encased by a matching oak railing, which looked over the entire front area and entrance hall to the house. Hermione was soon startled out of her observations by a squeaky voice.

"Miss, would you like to come in, so Master Snape can shut the door?" The house elf asked, earning a glare from Snape.

Hermione blushed and then turned around, "Sorry," she said and shuffled into the house.

After the house elf had seen the look that Snape had given her, she had backed off considerably.

"Sorry Miss; would you like me to take your coats?" She asked and the two took off their jackets and handed them to the small creature.

"Would you like me to take your luggage?" She asked and then the two handed over more items to the creature.

They watched as she set the luggage down on the floor and with a snap of the house elf's fingers, it returned to normal size and with another snap, it was gone.

"If that is all, Halo will now prepare your rooms," she said, looking at Snape, who nodded.

Halo went to walk away, but then stopped, "And Master Snape, Mistress Snape ran in a few minutes ago, but do not worry; Cosmo has her," Halo said and then walked away.

Hermione turned around and raised an eyebrow," Halo…Cosmo?"

"My grandmother named them all-"

"There's more?" Hermione asked disapprovingly.

"Two more and no matter how hard I try, they won't leave; I can't tell you _how_ many times I have tried to get _rid_ of them," he replied.

"Well," Hermione said, "at least you tried."

"They were attached to my grandmother, who even went as far as to give Halo English lessons…Wait, you're not going to start up that thing again, are you?" He asked.

"What thing?"

"That house elf thing…what was it again – spew? If you do decide to bring that back, please don't drag me or Janie in on it…I want nothing to do with it."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "How did you know about _S_._P_._E_._W_.?"

"Do you know how _tired_ I was of listening to Potter and Weasley complain about that club?" He asked.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, "They weren't _that_ bad."

"Hermione, they never shut up about it," he stated.

Her stare immediately turned into a glare, "Are we going to stand here all day?"

"Would you like me to show you around?" He asked politely.

"That would be nice," she replied, happy to get away from their current conversation.

---

A while later, Severus brought Hermione outside yet another closed door, but these were different from all the other ones she had seen. Instead of it being only one door, they were two giant oak doors that reached the ceiling.

"I was going to show you this room later, but I think you'd appreciate it if I showed you now. But, before I open the doors, I need you to close your eyes," Severus said.

"Ooo, another surprise," she said as she closed her eyes; she seemed to be doing a lot of that lately with him.

Hermione heard him open the doors and then he grabbed her hand and lead her through them. She then heard the doors shut and then the sound of many opening curtains.

"Alright, you can open your eyes now," he said, coming to stand next to her.

When she opened her eyes, she had to blink a few times; there was no way that her eyes were actually seeing correctly.

"Is this real?" She asked incredulously.

Severus chuckled, "I knew you'd like it."

Hermione's eyes glimmered as she looked at his library. There were bookcases that almost reached the ceiling on every wall, except for the wall in front of her, which had four large windows and a magnificent fireplace. In front of the fireplace, were two large couches, separated by end tables and two armchairs, with a large oak table in front of them.

"Last time I checked, I believe that there are more books here, than at Hogwarts," Severus said.

"What?" Hermione asked and he pointed to a staircase to his right.

Hermione walked up the stairs, closely followed by Severus and froze; the entire second floor was filled with rows and rows of bookshelves, with the exception of a collection of tables and chairs that were spread throughout the room and a few window seats.

"Pinch me, Severus; I think I'm dreaming," Hermione said, her eyes traveling up and down the many rows of bookshelves. "How did you get this place again?"

"My grandmother knew that I would be the only one who would appreciate something like this. That – and the only one who would make sure that the house would never go to ruins," he explained.

"If she were alive right now, I'd kiss her," Hermione murmured, making Severus laugh.

If she were alive right now, we wouldn't be here, unless she knew about Janie; then we'd never be able to leave," he said.

"And that's a bad thing?" Hermione asked.

After Hermione had her long look at the library, while exclaiming at certain books, which amused Severus immensely, they had met Janie for dinner.

"Dad, this place is AWESOME!" Janie exclaimed. "It's so big…there are so many rooms and some of the views are breathtaking!"

"I'm glad you like it," he replied.

"And Cosmo is really nice too, but he keeps calling me 'Mistress Snape,' no matter how many times I tell him that it's Janie," Janie complained.

"It's out of respect, Janie," Hermione said, adding silently, _Even though all I get is a 'Miss_.'

"What respect? You're both older than me," Janie said.

"You're my daughter," Severus said.

"Yes, but she's my mother," Janie said, pointing at Hermione.

_Must she do this now_? Hermione thought, really not wanting to get into explaining why Janie was being referred to as 'Mistress' and she wasn't.

Seeing the look on Hermione's face, Severus quickly tried to end the conversation, "Janie, what's your last name?"

Janie thought about it for a moment and then it clicked, "Oh," she said.

Thankful that that conversation was finally over, he went to change the subject, but Janie wasn't quite finished yet.

"Really, all you have to do is-"

"Janie, no," her father said.

"But all I was going to say was-" she tried again.

"No," he said sternly.

"But-"

"Shush."

"I-"

"Quiet."

"Dad-"

"You're done," he said. "Please Janie, not now."

Janie sent her father a glare, which he returned.

When Severus thought that Janie had given up, due to her newly found silence, she opened her mouth and said really quickly, "But you could solve that if you two _actually_ got together, had some fun, and who knows, maybe throw my little brother in the mix. Maybe then, the house elves will start calling me 'Janie' and Mum, 'Mistress.'"

The look on her father's face was priceless, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see; Hermione's face, however, was quite the opposite. The look on her face consisted of anger, shock, and sadness. Hermione got up to leave, but Janie got up quickly and ran around the table, to where he parents were sitting. When Hermione had stopped, Janie picked up her parent's hands and laid them on top of each other.

"You two belong together," Janie said. "McGonagall was right," she added, making Severus raise an eyebrow.

Janie froze; she was doing the exact same thing to her parents that Dumbledore and McGonagall were doing. She had heard her parents complain about their colleagues countless times and here, their own daughter was doing the same thing that they were trying to get away from.

Janie backed away slowly from them and then quickly left the room, heading towards the grand staircase, at almost a run. Hermione's eyes however, had not moved from staring at their hands.

"Janie!" Severus called, getting up from his seat and running after her.

When Halo saw Snape running down the hallway, she looked in the direction that Janie had gone.

"Mistress Snape went to her room," she informed him quickly as he passed.

Reaching her closed door, he paused and knocked, but when he didn't receive an answer, Severus slowly opened the door.

When he couldn't see anything inside, he silently cursed himself for making the room so dark. Janie's room was configured to look like space and when the door was shut, it was really hard to say which way was up. While it was light outside, or the door was open all the way, you could tell where the floor was, but Janie had everything tightly closed, except for a sliver of light that escaped from her drapes.

"Janie?" Severus called out softly.

No answer.

Severus walked around where he knew the bed was and looked to where the sliver of light had landed, which was right on Janie's face.

"I see you've found your room," he said.

"This is…_my_ room?" Janie asked.

"Yes; do you like it?" He asked softly.

"Yeah; it's really cool," she said, looking at her window and away from her father.

Severus walked over next to her and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"I'm really sorry Dad, about that back there," she said after several moments. "I didn't realize that I was acting just like the people that you've been trying to avoid."

"It's alright," Severus said. "We've learned to-"

"No Dad, it's not alright," she said looking at him, but then turned her gaze again to the window.

Severus really didn't know how to respond to Janie's reply, making him wish that Hermione was there.

"Do you remember the night that you came over and told me that you were my father?" Janie asked, after several more minutes of silence.

Janie looked at him and vaguely saw him nod.

"Do you remember when I asked you if you loved Mum?" She asked.

"Yes," he replied quietly.

"Did you? Did you love her before you met me?" Janie asked and looked up at her father, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"I have always loved your mother," Severus said.

"Then why did you two break up in the first place?" She asked, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"Your mother never told you?"

Janie shook her head.

"You should ask her," he told Janie.

"I don't want to ask her, I've already asked her once and I didn't get the truth; I want to hear it from you," Janie said.

He sighed, "I'm sure you know all about the last war; am I correct?"

"Yeah," Janie said softly, playing with the corner of her shirt.

And that was how the long discussion started. Severus decided not to tell her everything yet; she was too young to know certain details. He had started from the time that he found out Hermione was pregnant to when he had first told Janie that he was her father. He was careful not to mention anything about the crystal ball, but he did let slip a few things that he knew would probably make Hermione mad; him just finding out that he had a daughter was one of them. He did tell Janie that the main reason for that, was because he was a spy for the Order and it would have been extremely dangerous for all of them, if Voldemort had found out about Janie, even if he didn't know for sure what the real reason was.

When Severus got up to leave, Janie stopped him.

"One more question; are you sure?" Janie asked him.

"I have never been surer in my life," he said, before quietly shutting the door.

When Severus returned to the table, Hermione was no longer there and the table itself had been cleared. Having a good idea to where she went, he started to make his way to the library.

When he opened the doors, the fire was already lit, but he didn't see anybody in there, except for Halo, who was walking around one of the couches in front of the roaring fire.

"Oh Master, you're here," the house elf said quietly. "Missy Granger feel asleep on the couch – I was just about to send her to her room," she said, raising her hand.

"No, Halo-" Severus started, but wasn't quick enough.

As soon as Severus had rounded the couch, Halo snapped her fingers and Hermione disappeared, making him silently curse.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir; I can get her back, if you'd like…"

"No Halo, it's alright," Severus said, quickly exiting the library, knowing very well that Hermione wasn't going to be happy when she reappeared in her bedroom; she already had something small going against the house elves.

Right when Severus reached for her doorknob, Hermione swung the door open, jumping backwards.

"Hermione-"

"Severus! You scared me half to death!"

"I'm-"

"Where were you anyways; you took forever," she stated.

"I was talking to Janie," he said as Hermione went back into her room and sat down on her bed.

"I tried asking where you both were, but your house elves told me 'not to worry' and were about as helpful as asking Harry or Ron for help on a potion's essay. But anyways," she said a little more cheerfully, "what did you two talk about?"

"I had to tell her," he said softly.

"About what?" She asked slowly.

"The truth…"

"About what, exactly?" She asked seriously.

"From the night at Hogwarts up to the night when she found out that I was her father," he said.

"Why?"

"Because she asked-"

"If she asked you to buy her a horse, would you do that?" She asked, trying to make her point.

"Well, there's certainly enough room for one," he said.

Hermione gave him the same look that she gave Ron, when he stuffed his mouth with food and then dared to speak.

"Would you buy her a hippogriff?" Hermione asked.

"Buy? All she has to do is ask Hagrid for one; I'm sure he'd be happy to oblige," Severus said.

Hermione growled in frustration, "That's not the point I was trying to make. Just because Janie asks for something, doesn't mean that you have to comply to it."

"But she needed to know; it's not like I told her everything," Severus defended.

"But she's too young to know," Hermione argued.

"She had to know eventually; best do it while she's younger, it'll be easier than if she was older," Severus said.

"But you could have asked me-" she started, her voice raised, but Severus interrupted her.

"Well what did you want me to do, Hermione?" His voice raised now, to match hers. "Say 'hold on Janie, I have to ask your mother if it's alright to tell you what happened?'"

"Yes-"

"No," he stated.

"She probably doesn't even understand-"

"Understand what? She sure seemed like she understood everything to me. If you haven't noticed Hermione, Janie is the brightest first year in Hogwarts since you. She might not act like it all the time, but she is," he said, his voice still raised.

"I-"

"What are you going to do, Hermione? Lie to her, like you lied to me?" Severus yelled, letting his anger get the best of him.

He had definitely struck a nerve. Hermione stared at him for a few seconds, her face going white, before getting up and slapping him right across the face. The slap had definitely come as a shock to Severus, who could only stand there and stare at Hermione incredulously, while his cheek burned. Hermione stared back at him, afraid what he was going to do and when she saw that he was just standing there, staring at her, she turned around and left.

"Hermione-" he tried, but got the door slammed in his face instead. When he opened the door, she was already running down the staircase and then continued right out the door.

_Is she crazy? It's freezing out there and she doesn't even have a coat…or shoes for that matter_, he thought as he quickly made her way down the stairs and out the door after her.

Once outside, Severus lit his wand, only to find nobody. He looked down at the path and found Hermione's footprints in the snow. He followed them for a few more feet and then his heart sunk. The footprints now looked like she started to drag her feet and then right where they ended, there were two handprints.

Walking quickly back inside, he went up to Janie's room and knocked on the door. When no one answered, he slipped in to find her sleeping, or so he thought. Quietly leaving the room, he summoned one of his house elves and told him to watch over Janie. Throwing on his black coat, he apparated to Hogwarts.

---

When he reached the giant oak doors to the school, he flung them open, grabbing the attention of any late-night wonderers and scaring the crap out of Mrs. Norris, who shrieked.

"Missing Hogwarts already?" Dumbledore asked, who was currently talking to the caretaker.

Ignoring him, Snape briskly walked straight down to the dungeons and into his quarters, not even bothering to shut the door. After he had searched all the rooms, he turned to find Dumbledore leaning in his doorway.

"You left the door open," he said, seeing the annoyed look on the younger wizard's face. "Something the matter, m'boy?"

Severus looked at him and then around his quarters.

"Missing something?" The Headmaster asked.

"You haven't seen Hermione by chance, have you?" He asked, turning to face Dumbledore once again, who shook his head.

"Not since you left; is there something wrong?" Dumbledore asked.

He growled as he took a pinch of floo powder and knelt next to the fire.

"What did you say?" His older friend asked him, knowing his young friend all to well.

Snape ignored him and threw the pinch of floo powder into the fireplace, stuck his head inside, and called for the Burrow.

Ron jumped nearly three feet in the air from his position on the couch, when he head Snape growl 'Weasley' from his fireplace.

"Professor," Ron mumbled, through all the food in his mouth, making Snape roll his eyes. "Wha' the mah' ter," he said and then swallowed his food. "Is Hermione alright?"

"Get Molly," he said and Ron ran out of the room, returning with his mother a few moments later.

"Severus! What brings you here; is everything alright?"

Snape looked at Ron and then at Mrs. Weasley.

"Ron dear, could you please step out for a moment?" She asked, pushing her son out of the room, shut the door, and then cast a silencing charm on it.

"Is Hermione here, by chance?" He asked.

"No; I haven't seen her in a while," Molly replied. "Is there anything wrong? Hermione doesn't usually do things like this anymore…"

_You'd be surprised_, Severus thought to himself.

"Just a slight disagreement," he said out loud.

"Don't worry Severus, she'll show up; just let her blow some anger off. If I hear anything from her, I'll let you know…Oh, and you two are still coming over for Christmas, right?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yes," Severus said and then with a quick 'thank you,' disappeared.

When he pulled his head out of the fireplace, Dumbledore was still there, only now, he was looking at him expectantly.

"What did you say, Severus?" He asked, showing concern.

"Nothing," he said.

"You need to watch what you say, m'boy," Dumbledore said.

Snape ignored him again as he took a handful of floo powder, threw it into the fire and then disappeared. When he returned several minutes later, Dumbledore grabbed him by the shoulders and sat him on the couch. After several minutes, Severus started speaking.

"I can't find her anywhere, Albus. I've looked here, at her home, and at the Weasley's; the only places I haven't looked are at her parent's and Potter's – I'm not sure where they are at the current moment," he said.

"What did you say to make her disappear? I don't think many things you say would make her scramble off in another direction," Dumbledore said.

"What makes you think that I said something?" Severus asked, getting a look from Dumbledore, making him sigh. "She got mad at me, all because I told Janie most of the truth as to why she was missing her father, for most of her life."

"Did she have a reason?" Dumbledore asked.

"She said that Janie was too young," he replied.

"But do you think that she was ready to know?" His older friend asked.

"Yes-"

"Then I don't see how she would leave, just because of that…"

Severus was silent.

"What else did you say?"

He was quiet for several more moments, "I let my anger get the best of me…"

"We all know what you're capable of saying when you're angry and we all wonder how in the world Hermione can put up with you at times. But Severus, what…did…you say?"

"Why are you so concerned in knowing? It's not like you have to deal with it," he spat.

"It's Christmastime; besides, if you have a miserable break, then everybody else in the castle will have a miserable January," Dumbledore said, still not getting an answer from the stubborn man. "At least, do it for Janie; you don't want to ruin a very good thing, do you? Things are finally looking extremely bright for you, Severus; don't blow it now."

His hand rubbed across his face and then sighed, "I asked her if she was going to lie to Janie, like she lied to me," he said softly.

"How did you say it?" Dumbledore asked, fearing how his younger friend was going to answer.

"We were both yelling at that point-"

"You _both_ need to learn how to not let your anger get the best of you and talk things out with each other," he said.

"I don't see how this-"

"You've hurt her, Severus," Dumbledore stated.

"I've figured that much out already; thank you, Albus," he snarled.

Dumbledore got up and walked to Severus' door, "The only thing that's going to heal this is time. I'm afraid if you find her now, you'll be at the receiving end of a hex – and it won't be from her," he said and left.

Severus growled to himself, before flooing back to his manor.

---

It was well passed one in the morning, when Hermione finally came stumbling through the library's main fireplace.

"Oh, Miss Granger; you're back," Halo said, making Hermione jump.

"Miss? Halo, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked, almost as if she had a little trouble speaking.

"Master Snape has instructed Halo to not call you 'Missy' anymore and that you deserve respect, Miss. He also told Halo to watch the library tonight, incase you came back," the small house elf told her.

"Why would he care?" Hermione asked the creature.

"Master Snape has been looking for you for hours, Miss," she said, motioning for Hermione to follow her out the doors. When they had reached the sitting room, Halo lead her to the couch, in front of the fireplace.

"He had finally gone to sleep," she said, motioning towards Snape's sleeping form on the couch. "Master sure left in a hurry after you, Miss, and didn't return for quite some time; you sure had him worried," the house elf admitted. "Once he got back, he was angry, though; searching the house…Halo was starting to worry about Master Snape waking up Mistress Snape – she had just gotten to sleep before Master Snape arrived back."

Once Halo had left, after Hermione had persuaded her not to levitate Severus back to his rooms, she took out her wand and conjured him a blanket.

Laying it over him, she thought, _You're still an arsehole for saying it in the first place_; _I don't care what Harry said_.

Right before Hermione was about to leave, she turned to look at him once more. Turning her attention back in front of her, she went to leave the room, but tripped over a chair that she hadn't seen and fell, making Severus stir.

"'Ermione?" He called, sounding exhausted.

"Go to sleep, Severus," she said, trying to get up, but stumbling over the chair again.

He moved to get up, but she had already managed to get up and was heading up the stairs to bed.

---

When Severus awoke the next morning, it took him a few moments to realize where he was and the fact that he was covered with a blanket. Vaguely remembering when he was covered and by who, he got off of the couch and started to walk up the stairs when he was stopped by Halo.

"Is Hermione back yet?" He asked.

"Yes, sir; don't you remember? She covered you last night." Halo said.

"Is she alright?"

"It appears so; except when she came back last night, sir; I could smell the alcohol on her breath and she was also stumbling over things," she informed him.

"Was she drunk?" Severus asked.

"No, I don't think so, sir," she said and he continued his way up the stairs.

"Master Snape, I don't think you should go up there at the moment," Halo told him, making him raise his trademark eyebrow.

"Ms. Granger said that if you 'come anywhere near her now, next time she knees you, it won't be on accident,'" the nervous house elf said, wringing her hands.

"Could you please tell _Ms_. Granger that if she doesn't come around by dinnertime, then I'll take my chances; I can't stay away from her forever. You can also thank her for the blanket last night," Severus said.

Halo nodded and then disappeared.

---

Later on during the day, Janie found her mother in the library. Sitting down in the arm chair that was next to the couch her mother was seated on, Janie brought her legs up, so that she was sitting on her feet.

"I heard you two last night," Janie told her mother after several moments.

Hermione looked up from what she was reading.

"It's not entirely his fault, Mum; I wanted to know," Janie said.

"You could have at least asked me too, Janie," Hermione said.

"I did, but you didn't tell me what I wanted to know," Janie said, careful to avoid using the phrase, 'you lied to me.' "When I had first asked Dad, he told me to ask you, but I refused."

"That still doesn't give him the right to say what he did," Hermione said, not looking up to meet Janie's gaze.

"I know, but Mum, you broke his heart," Janie said.

Hermione snapped her head up to look at her daughter, "Did he tell you that?"

"No."

"Then how did you-"

"It's what he didn't say and how he said the things he did; I could tell that he didn't want to tell me certain things, even though he tried hiding it. And he didn't tell me everything, Mum; just certain things, like how you were protecting us both from Voldemort. But, what I don't get, is why you waited eleven years to tell him; he's still upset about that, Mum," Janie informed her mother.

"But he said-"

"I don't care what Dad says; it still bugs him," Janie said, getting up from her chair.

Before Janie left the room, she turned around, "Please don't ruin this Mum…and I'm not going to let you, either."

"You can't just forgive and forget, Janie," Hermione said.

"Just remember Mum; Dad loves you-"

"He told you that?" Hermione asked.

"He told me he was never so sure of anything in his life," Janie said, shutting the door on her way out.

---

It was around dinnertime that Snape had found Janie, while he was looking for Hermione.

"Janie, where's your mother?" He asked.

"I dunno; she left about ten minutes ago. She said something about meeting an old client somewhere, something like that or another," she told him.

_It can't be today_…Severus thought as he quickly walked up the stairs and into Hermione's room, not even bothering to knock.

Walking inside, he found another green envelope and a letter. On the letter, was printed the word 'fine,' along with the location of a muggle bar in London. Stuffing the letter inside his pocket, he quickly left Hermione's room and went to put on muggle clothing.

---

Hermione walked into the muggle bar and found Zeek sitting down at one of the many booths that were around the bar.

"Want a drink?" He asked her as she sat down.

"No thank you," Hermione replied, eyeing the several empty shot glasses that he had already collected around him.

"So Ms. Granger, how is the potion business going? I haven't gotten any of my requested potions lately; is there a problem?" The blond across from her asked, downing another shot and then motioning for another one.

"Well actually, I'm not really in that business anymore-"

"You're what?" He asked, slamming the now-empty shot glass down on the table.

"I'm pulling out," she said simply.

"Are you crazy? How am I going to get my potions now? You know, you're throwing a huge money-maker down the drain," he said, ordering more alcohol.

"I have a new job now and as for your potions, you can just buy them somewhere else. You don't need me-"

"But you're the only one who will brew specific types of potions though! Nobody even has half of the ingredients that you do…well, except for maybe Snape and he won't make me my potions anymore!"

Hermione's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Severus, at about the same time that he entered the establishment and quickly slipped into the shadows, close to where they were sitting.

"You've must have done something pretty stupid, to make Snape stop making you potions."

Zeek looked at her in rage and then added yet another empty glass to his collection, calling for more from the waitress.

"He stopped making me potions, after I started using them 'for the wrong reasons,' or so he said; that's why _you_ can't stop brewing," he slurred.

"I'm not making you any more potions; you can buy them from another vendor, just like everybody else," she said and took the shot glass away from him. "No more; I am _not_ going to talk to someone, who won't remember anything in the morning," Hermione said.

Zeek looked at her and then motioned towards the waitress again, who looked at him disapprovingly, before giving him another glass. The young Malfoy looked Hermione in the eye and then downed the liquid. Hermione slammed her hands down on the table and went to get up, but Zeek reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"You have to make me my potions-"

"Why? I don't even know why you need half of them," Hermione spat.

"You wouldn't want Potter to find out about that potion now, do you?" He asked.

"What potion?" She replied.

"The potion that I caught you with a few years ago-"

"That was a _long_ time ago and Harry doesn't need to know anything-"

"Don't make me drag my brother-"

"I don't give a damn about your brother, Malfoy," Hermione snarled, yanking her wrist free from him and turning around.

Zeek got up after her, making Severus emerge out from his hiding place. Zeek reached out his hand and pulled on Hermione's shoulder, after fighting to stand up straight.

"You can't resist me; you _have_ to make me what _I _want," he said.

"No, _I_ don't," Hermione said, trying to shrug Zeek off, as Snape walked around people at the bar to get to them.

"You _can't_ resist me," Zeek said, spinning her around.

"Yes, I ca-" Hermione stopped as Zeek wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on her lips.

Once the shock had passed, Hermione tried to push him off of her, but he tightened his grip. When Severus saw this, he started to knock everybody down in his way, to get to the two. Zeek abruptly pulled away, when Hermione harshly bit his tongue.

"Wha' the 'ell was tha' for," he asked as Hermione tried to kick him, but he grabbed her foot instead and threw her backwards, into a booth, toppling over the table as she hit.

Snape grabbed Zeek's shoulder, spun him around, and punched him right in the face; his fist making a direct hit with his cheekbone, sending him to the floor. By now, everybody in the bar was watching them, including the two men that had walked up behind Snape.

"Don't you _ever_ touch her," Snape roared at Zeek, who was trying to get up, but was failing miserably.

"C'mon buddy, there's no use for violence here," one of the men said.

Snape turned around and glared at him, making both men back off. When he turned around, Ginny was suddenly standing next to Hermione, pulling the table off her.

"Hermione," she said. "Hermione, are you alright?"

Severus started to walk over towards the two women, but Zeek grabbed his ankle and got up off the floor.

"What the _hell_ was tha' for Snape?" The blond asked.

Snape stepped closer to Zeek and said harshly, "If you ever touch her again, you're not going to know what hit you," he said, turning his back to the younger wizard.

"Why do you care?" He asked, making Snape freeze. "She's just a m-"

"She's _mine_," he thundered, turning around to look at Malfoy's already bruised and bloody face.

"You're kidding me, right? Well, in that case," he said, staggering over to where Ginny was holding Hermione up in the booth.

"Don't you _dare_ go by her," Snape snarled, as Zeek faltered over towards Hermione, his hand going into his pocket, his fingers wrapping around his wand.

When Ginny saw Zeek's actions, she pulled Hermione safely behind her and her hand also went into her pocket to get her wand.

"I told you not to touch her!" He said. "Don't go near my wife!" He said maliciously, making Ginny and Zeek snap their heads up to look at him.

Snape advanced towards Zeek and with a wave of his hand, he flew in the air and smashed into the wall, shattering the pictures that were hung up. Everybody was watching Snape in shock, including Hermione, who had opened her eyes only a few moments ago.

"Severus…" Hermione said softly, getting his attention as Ginny pulled out a small vial.

"Hermione," Ginny said, "drink this."

Hermione took the small vial and downed it, quickly falling into a deep sleep. The last thing she remembered was being lifted into the air by a strong pair of arms.

---

When Snape arrived back with Hermione and Ginny, he told Ginny to go and distract Janie, while he made sure Hermione was alright. What they didn't know, was that Janie was patiently waiting for her parents in his sitting room. Before Ginny had the chance to distract Janie, she had caught a glimpse of her parents.

"You know what Janie?" Ginny asked. "Why don't we go and visit your uncles, they haven't seen you in awhile," she said, ushering Janie out the door.

Snape walked up the stairs with Hermione and before he realized where he was going, he had already laid Hermione down on his bed.

He paused, realizing what he had done and shrugged, _Oh well, she can yell at me later_, he thought as he brought a chair up next to his bed and sat down.

---

Hermione awoke during the middle of the night, only to find herself in Snape's bedroom. Looking around, she found him sitting in a chair, fast asleep. Trying to get out of bed, Hermione felt a sharp pain shoot up her arm and she fell back onto the pillows.

Shoot, Hermione looked slowly towards Snape, _Oh good_;_ I didn't wake him up_, she thought, moving to get up out of the bed again.

This time however, as she put her right arm on the edge of the bed to push herself up, it gave out and she started to fall off of the bed, but Severus quickly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up.

When Hermione looked up at him and met his eyes, everything that she remembered from earlier came flooding back and started to cry. Even though what he said to her wasn't very nice, she was mean to him and he _still_ came to protect her from Zeek. After talking to Zeek, she realized why Snape had been so angry when she told him that he was her client. And after everything he had told her about the Malfoy, she still went behind his back and went to meet him and he still came. Even though Hermione couldn't really understand why; Snape usually wouldn't do that for anybody, he would usually just let them learn their lesson instead.

By now, Snape had moved to sit next to Hermione on the bed, while she cried into his chest.

"I'm so…sorry…Severus," she sobbed. "After everything I said and how I acted…you still came and protected me. I don't know what…would...have…happened if you…weren't there. Sure, Ginny…was there…but she's not…you," Hermione cried in hysterics.

"If I hadn't…then maybe…and you," Hermione said, very close now to hyperventilating.

"Hermione," Severus said softly, slowly starting to rock her back and forth. "Stop putting all the blame on yourself; I'm the one who said it-"

"But it's true! I was confused; I couldn't think properly…I didn't know what to do…"

"You could have come to me; we could have worked things out – and I'm…sorry for what I said; I shouldn't have said it," he said quietly.

"I…"

"Just promise me that you'll at least come to me for help; I want to help you, but you're not letting me," he said, being careful not to mention anything about the incident in the bar.

Hermione was quiet for several moments, before replying softly, "I promise."

---

When it had appeared that Hermione had finally fallen asleep, Severus went to get up, but a hand stopped him.

"Don't…please don't go," Hermione said almost inaudibly.

Severus turned around and looked at her.

"Please don't Severus; I don't want to be left alone tonight," she said, tightening her grip on his sleeve.

Severus looked down at Hermione and then sighed, "Just let me get ready for bed then."

When she nodded, Severus got up and left his room. When he returned several minutes later, he found Hermione fast asleep. Carefully lying down, he pulled the covers over the both of them, turned the light off, and fell asleep.

---

The day before Christmas Eve was spent decorating the house, much to Hermione and Janie's joy. Before Janie had come home, Severus and Hermione had left to pick out several large Christmas trees from the forest next to his house. The now had Christmas trees spread throughout the house: two in the library, one in the entrance hall, and then one also in the main living room.

After dinner, while Janie was happily humming and putting decorations up in the hallway and in her room, Severus had suggested that they took a break and went for a walk outside.

After he had shown Hermione the grounds outside, he took her for a walk along the winding path that was inside the forest. Severus had managed to charm the path, so that as soon as snow would fall on it, it would melt and small lights floated to light the path.

"Severus, why did you do that?" Hermione asked, looking at the trees, whose branches were covered in snow.

"Do what?" He questioned, looking at her.

"Why did you come yesterday to the bar?" She asked.

"I didn't want you to be in any danger without anybody there to protect you," he replied.

"But you usually don't do those types of things. If it was anybody else, you would have let them go and learn a lesson," Hermione said.

"No I wouldn't-"

"Yes you would," she stated. "So why allow exceptions for me? If Malfoy was meeting any one of my friends, you wouldn't have cared. If it was me last year, I doubt you would have even found out. So why now?"

"Because," Snape said. "A person will do things that they don't normally do, to protect the people they love."

---

A little while later, they were walking deeper into the forest, in a comfortable silence; even though Hermione could sense that something wasn't exactly right. After a few more minutes, her curiosity got the best of her.

"Is there something wrong, Severus?" She asked.

"No," he said quietly and another few minutes were spent in silence.

"I'm sensing that we didn't just come out here for me to ask questions and to look at the scenery," Hermione said.

Severus glanced at her and then returned his gaze back to the path, "What are you doing next week?"

"I don't know; it's New Years," she replied.

"Next month?"

"Severus-"

"What do you have planned for the rest of your life?" Severus asked, looking at her – an unreadable emotion shimmering in his black onyx eyes.

"I haven't planned that-"

"Because, I was hoping that you would spend it with me," he said sincerely.

Realizing what he might do, Hermione looked at him, her eyes shining.

"Before you came along, I was a heartless, empty shell – who didn't see a point in loving at all, but you saw right through the façade and found a person that I really didn't know existed. After the war, I didn't see myself serving any purpose, but I still hung on and I'm really glad I did, because then I wouldn't have such two amazing people in my life," he said, pausing to get down on one knee and gently took her hand.

"And I've realized that I can't live without you; I love you, Hermione. Will you marry me?" He asked, pulling a small box out of his pocket and showed her a beautiful white gold ring with diamonds.

Hermione couldn't believe her eyes…or her ears; everything that she had ever dreamed about was finally coming true.

"Yes!" She said.

"What?" He asked, slowly getting up.

"Yes!" She cried, throwing her arms around his neck and kissed him, knocking him over into a sitting position.

"Hermione, look up," he said, wrapping his arms around her.

When Hermione looked up, she saw that it had begun to softly snow. Looking back at Severus, she saw that he was smiling.

"You remembered?" She asked him.

"Of course," he replied, "how could I forget?"

---

The next day was hectic, with Hermione running around before they had to go to her parent's house. Every time she went to sit down, she would remember something that she still needed to get and no matter how hard Severus and Janie tried, she didn't want any help.

So when there were only three hours left until they had to leave, Hermione was found sound asleep on the couch, with a list in her hand.

"Dad," Janie called, walking out of one of the many rooms in his manor.

"What is it, Janie?" He asked from his spot in the kitchen.

"Mum fell asleep," she said, leading him to where Hermione was.

"Let her sleep," he said.

"I am, but I think she still had more running to do…"

Snape looked down at Hermione and noticed a wrinkled piece of parchment in her hands. Carefully freeing the parchment, he opened it and read the several items that were listed. Sighing, he folded the paper and looked at Hermione sympathetically.

"Janie, get your coat on; we need to go and pick up some things," Severus said quietly and left the room after his daughter.

When Hermione awoke a little after two hours later and couldn't find her parchment anywhere, she became panicked.

"Severus," she called. "Severus!"

"What?" He asked, coming into the room, thinking that there was something wrong.

"Do you know where my list is; I can't find it anywhere. And I can't…Hey! Severus!" She called, after he had walked away.

She chased him into the entrance hall and stopped; everything she needed to get, was currently sitting on a table, along with all the gifts she needed to wrap, which were all already done. When she looked at Severus, Janie was right next to him, both clean, neatly dressed, and ready to go.

"I…"  
"All you have to do is get ready," Janie said.

Hermione walked over and hugged her daughter, making Janie smile. She then walked over to Severus, "Thank you," she said, hugging him.

Janie looked up when she saw something glisten in the light. When she spotted the item, her jaw dropped and then formed a wide, goofy smile. Hermione dropped her hand, gave Severus a quick peck on the cheek and then scurried off to get ready.

---

"Hermione, do your parents know that I'm coming?" Severus asked as they left his house.

"Err…not _exactly_," she replied.

He raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean, 'not exactly?'"

"Well, I told them that I was 'bringing a friend' along this year," Hermione informed him. "I also told them to tell everybody that I was going to bring along an extra person this year."

He stopped, "'Everybody?' I thought we were the only ones going…"

"Not quite," Hermione said.

"How many people are going to be there?" He asked.

This time, Hermione and Janie refused to directly look at him.

"Not too many…"

"Janie," Severus said. "How many people are going to be there?"

"Not too many, really Dad," she tried assuring him. "But it depends on who's done with school, who got off of work, and who has had kids…"

"Really Severus, it's just some of my uncles and aunts – and _maybe_ a few cousins," Hermione reassured him, while Janie decided to walk ahead of them.

Severus nodded, "This is not making telling your parents any easier…"

"I know, but that's why were going an hour early," Hermione said. "But I don't think we'll have to tell them – my mother's eyes are like radar."

"Do you think she'll notice?" Severus asked her.

"My parents have been asking me for years; my mother will notice…my father…probably not," Hermione said as they reached Janie. "Ready Janie?"

Janie nodded, "Yeah, but can I apparate with Dad; please?"

"Sure," Hermione said "You know where you're going, right Severus?"

He narrowed his eyes, "I'm not going to end up in Timbuktu," he said.

"Are you sure?"

"You told me where to go _five _times. I remembered the first time where to go, Hermione," Severus said.

"Alright then; I'll see you there," Hermione said and disappeared with a 'pop;' Severus and Janie doing the same moments later.

---

Meanwhile, in the Granger household…

"Nancy, will you just sit down already?" Mr. Granger asked from the kitchen.

"Do you know who Hermione's bringing along with her this time?" Mrs. Granger asked, glued to the front window.

"She's probably just bringing one of those two boys again, the ones who eat a lot…Janie's uncles," he said.

"Harry and Ron? Oh no, she would have said if it was them," she replied.

"What about that other girl, who works at that hospital?"

"Ginny? No, Hermione would have said if it was somebody we have already met…" She said, turning her head for a few seconds, to look at the clock again. When she looked back out the window, she saw her three guests walking passed her front window.

"John…" she called, narrowing her eyes to get a better look at her 'mystery guest,' her eyes then popping open. "John! Jonathon! Hermione's brought a _man_ with her!" His wife exclaimed happily.

John Granger walked into the doorway to his living room, "Good; it seems like she's finally over that one guy-"

"John! Don't you dare say that in front of…I don't think that she's over him just yet, John," she said as they came to the door and she rushed over to open it.

Opening the door, she was met by her smiling granddaughter and her daughter, almost hiding the man behind them.

"Hi Grandma!" Janie exclaimed, giving her a hug and then doing the same to her grandfather.

"Hi Mum; hi Dad," Hermione said, walking into her parent's house with several bags in her hands, followed by Severus, who also was holding several bags.

After Hermione's parents gave her a hug, she went to drop off their bags in the spare room that she knew her parents had on the first floor. While they were gone, Hermione's mother had tried to squeeze out of Janie who their "mystery guest" was.

"So Janie," her grandmother said "who did you bring along today?"

Janie bit her bottom lip and looked to where her parents had disappeared to, "He's my Professor from school and one of my Mum's colleagues; he's a really nice guy…"

"Is your mother dating him?"

"Nancy, that is not something you ask your granddaughter; that's my job," her husband said.

Janie remembered the object she saw on her mother's ring finger earlier and a wide smile spread across her face. "You could say that," the young witch said, as her parents returned.

When Hermione's mother saw that she had returned, she lead everybody into her living room and they sat down; Janie between her parents and the Grangers sitting in armchairs across from them.

"It's so nice to see you, Hermione and Janie; I haven't heard from you since you started teaching. Luckily, our granddaughter had written to us, but she didn't mention anything about your friend here, Hermione," Mrs. Granger said.

Hermione blushed, "Mum…Dad, this is-" Hermione stopped when Janie tugged on her sleeve.

"Can I?" She asked quietly.

Hermione thought about it for a few moments, deciding that it would be much easier if Janie had told them, because she would just come right out and say it. Not to mention, that if Janie had told them who Severus was, it would probably have a different effect on her parents, than is she had told them herself, so she nodded.

"Thanks Mum," Janie said, getting up and tugging her father's hand, for him to follow her.

"Grandma, Grandpa…" Janie said, facing her smiling grandparents, while holding her father's hand. "I'd like you to meet my Dad, Severus Snape."

Several moments were spent in silence, until Mr. Granger spoke; Mrs. Granger just looked at Janie, then Severus, before stopping finally at Hermione.

"Your _real_ father?" He asked.

"Jonathon!" His wife reprimanded.

Hermione got up from her seat and stood next to Severus, her right hand coming up to rest on his arm, "Yes Dad, this is Janie's father; Severus Snape," she said, patting him on the arm, just enough to grab her mother's attention.

"Snape…wasn't he your-" John Granger started, but thankfully stopped when Mrs. Granger jumped up from her seat and enveloped her daughter in a bone-crushing hug.

"It's about time!" She cried, swaying her daughter back and forth. "I'm so happy!" She exclaimed, wrapping an arm around Severus and pulled him into the embrace.

"Nancy, what are you _doing_?" John asked.

"Hermione's getting married! My baby is _finally_ getting married!" She cried in delight.

Janie looked at her grandmother, who was squishing her parents together and smiled.

"She's what?" A confused John Granger asked, "But she hasn't even said anything yet."

Mrs. Granger let go of her daughter and held Severus at arm's length.

"It's about time that I met the man who gave us Janie," she said, taking in Severus' appearance. "Yes…you are _definitely _Janie's father; there's no doubt about that. John, why don't you go and make us some tea?" She asked her husband, who left the room, Hermione following him.

---

Hermione watched as her father went through the kitchen, pulling out everything he needed to make the tea. When he turned around and saw Hermione, he almost jumped.

"Oh good Hermione, you can help me," he said, handing her the tea pot.

Hermione walked over to the sink and filled up the kettle with water.

"He seems like a good guy," her father said.

"He is," Hermione said. "But how do you-"

"I would trust you to pick out the right guy, when the time came to it," her father replied. "But Mi, how old is he?" Her father asked, making Hermione freeze.

"He's not too much older than me. Besides, wizarding ages are much different than your ages, mainly because of all the magic; we tend to live longer than any normal person," Hermione explained. "And it also helps that there the wizarding world can help prevent most illnesses and there are spells used to detect cancer early and treat it."

"Mi-"

"And stronger wizards, tend to live even longer; like Dumbledore, McGonagall, Severus, Harry, and me," she continued on.

"Hermione, how old is he?" He asked again.

"Somewhere in his forties," she mumbled, "but Dumbledore, we all think, is well into his one-hundred seventies."

John looked at his daughter, like he was trying to determine if she was telling him the truth or not. Hermione just kept looking at him, with a meaning in her eyes; he turned his back to her and pulled out five tea cups.

"Are you happy?" He asked.

"Very," she replied.

"Is he?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, not certain on his exact meaning.

"You're telling me that he's fine with your decision eleven years ago then?" He asked.

"I'm not talking about this now," Hermione said. "It's Christmastime."

John Granger watched as his daughter took the cups and sugar and then left.

---

"Everything alright, dear?" Mrs. Granger asked, seeing the upset look on her daughter's face when she entered the room.

"Oh, everything's fine," Hermione said, through half-gritted teeth.

"Hi Mum," Janie said happily. "I was just showing them my book of the hundred greatest wizards!"

"Hermione, you didn't tell me tat you made the top five!" Her mother exclaimed.

"And my dad made number three!" Janie exclaimed.

Severus hadn't been paying any attention to what had been going on around him, because he had been more concerned with Hermione's sudden change in mood.

"So," Hermione said, trying to take her mother and Severus' attention away from her, "what did I miss?"

"Oh nothing dear; Janie just showed us that marvelous book of hers and Severus refuses to call me 'Nancy' and keeps calling me, 'Mrs. Granger,'" she said.

"Mum, who else is coming tonight?" Hermione asked.

"Just your uncles, aunts, and a few cousins; Timothy is coming."

"He is?" Hermione asked, "I haven't seen him in five…no six years!"

"He's finally done with college-"

"What is he taking classes for that takes him six years to complete?" Hermione asked, her mood elevated.

"He's been done for awhile now, but he's been very busy, until now. Last year, you two just missed each other; he stopped by right after you left," her mother said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hermione asked, sounding disappointed.

"Well, it was only for a short while and we couldn't get a hold of you. You know Hermione, he's married now, for four years, I believe _and _he has a little boy-"

"When did all this happen? Why wasn't I told; how come I wasn't invited?" She asked, her spirits dampening and leaving Severus and Janie totally confused.

"You haven't been keeping in touch lately either, Hermione. You both have been doing things unexpectedly," her mother said, turning to the two confused people.

"Timothy is Hermione's younger cousin, my brother Mike's son; he and Hermione were inseparable when they were younger – almost like brother and sister," Mrs. Granger explained, as Mr. Granger came through the doorway, his arms full.

Before any of the women could get up and help him, Severus was already on his feet and took the tea pot from him.

"Thank you," he mumbled and Severus nodded, sitting back down next to Hermione, who placed a comforting hand on his knee.

_Thank you, Severus_; _he'll warm up to you eventually, don't worry_, she thought to him, making him snap his head up to look at her.

_You know legilimency_? He thought incredulously.

_Only how to send thoughts to other people_;_ I can't read minds yet_," she said, without her usual emotion behind it, which Severus noticed immediately.

_What happened in the kitchen, Hermione?_ He asked.

"_Nothing…my Dad and I just had a slight_..._disagreement_, she thought.

Severus looked at her with concerned eyes, _It was about me_, _wasn't it?_

Hermione's parents looked at the two in interest, as soon as Snape had snapped his head up to look at Hermione.

"Janie, what are they doing?" Her grandmother asked.

"I think they're using legilimency," she replied.

"'Legilimency?'" Her grandfather repeated.

"My dad's really good at it; it means that you can read minds. Mum's just learning though…she can only put words into other people's minds; I've been practicing with her; she can't read minds though, not yet at least," Janie explained.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked at each other wearily.

"Mum…" Janie said. "Mum!"

Hermione jumped, "What?" She asked, looking around the room.

"Grandpa wanted to know if you wanted any tea," Janie said.

"Oh…sure; we'll both take some," she replied.

"So," Mr. Granger said, "where did you two meet?"

Hermione looked at Severus nervously, "We both work at the same school-"

"And this is the same school that you went to," her father stated.

"Yes-"

"So he was your professor."

"Yes-"

He turned to Severus, "And how old are you?"

"Dad!"

"John!"

"What?" He said, looking partly shocked. "I just wanted to know," he defended.

"John, could I talk to you, in the kitchen," Hermione's mother commanded, rather than asked, as she pulled the bewildered-looking man into the kitchen with her.

"John," she hissed. "Do you have to do this now; it's Christmas!"

"Nancy, I just want to know a little more about this man; he was her professor," he said.

"Yes and don't you remember Hermione coming back during holidays, while she was at that school; she wouldn't stop talking about him – especially before she graduated. He must be a respectable man for Hermione to yap about him since she started that school," Mrs. Granger said.

"But he was her professor-"

"And your sister married her-"

"That doesn't mat-"

"At lease give him a chance John; Hermione picked him, so he's got to be a good man; even you should know that. I was reading Janie's book that she brought with – and it has him listed as the third best wizard of the century. Do you know how he got that, John?" Hermione's mother asked.

"Out of how many wizards?"

"Why do you have such a problem with this? You didn't even have this much of a problem when Hermione brought Janie home for the first time or when Harry or Ron came over; you accepted them with arms wide open. So why is now any different?" Nancy asked.

John stayed silent, while his wife stared at him.

"As I was saying before…this man that Hermione is with…is getting _married_ to, risked his life to become a spy-"

"He was in the military?" Mr. Granger asked.

"I don't know if wizards have a military. But John, if it wasn't for him, they might not have won and Hermione might not even be here right now. If that Headmaster of their school didn't appoint him to protect them, who knows where they might be now – all three of them," his wife said, walking to the door.

"That was him?" Mr. Granger asked, digging through his memory to see if Hermione had mentioned him being their guardian or not.

"Yes. Now, can you please just give the man a chance? It seems like he's been through an awful lot and he doesn't need this now – neither of them does…or Janie," she said and left the room, returning to where her guests were seated, only to find two of them missing.

"Janie, where's your parents?" Her grandmother asked.

"She's showing my Dad around the house," Janie replied.

She nodded, "So how's school?"

"Good," Janie replied, as her grandfather walked back into the room.

"I bet it's a little weird to have both your parents as professors," Nancy said.

"It's a little weird at times, but in other words; it's not that bad. I have to do my homework or the other kids will think that I'm getting special treatment and I have to pay attention in class, which really isn't a big problem for me though," Janie explained.

"Did anything interesting happen, while you were at school?" Her grandfather asked, finally joining in on the conversation.

"Lots," Janie said. "Let's see…I made the school's Quidditch team, got injured, got into a fight-"

"You got into a fight?" Her grandmother asked.

"It wasn't _that_ big-"

"Did you get into trouble?" She was asked.

"My dad caught me…"

"What about your mother?" Mr. Granger asked.

"She wasn't at the school yet, but she was really, _really_ mad when she found out about it and because my dad and I didn't tell her," Janie said.

Mr. Granger went to open his mouth to speak, but his wife beat him to it, afraid of the comment he was going to make, "Did anything else interesting happen? Any new friends?"

"Yeah," Janie said. "My two best friends are Lyss and Matt and guess what…they're twins!"

"Do they look alike?" Her grandmother asked.

"Yeah," Janie said. "And guess what happened two days ago?"

"What?" Her grandmother smiled.

"My dad saved my mum's life!"

**A/N: For those of you who may have thought that the title seemed a little familiar, it is; the chapter is named after "Hanging by a Moment," by Lifehouse. This chapter would have been longer, but I thought it might have been getting a little too long. I already started writing the next chapter, but unfortunately, I had to put it on hold to finish my summer reading homework and wait until I got my computer password for school so I can put this up. Anyways, I'm pretty sure that this chapter wasn't as funny as the last one (and that it didn't include all of the winter holidays), but hey! New Years Eve is next chapter and who knows what those Weasley twins will get up to next. And I know that not that many people are reading anymore, because of how long I'm taking to update, but for those who stayed and hung on with me this long…Thanks! And, next chapter, I'm really hoping, will probably be one of the best ones so far. Thanks to all those who have reviewed and I tried to get to most of them before my computer shut down and thanks to all of those who have read; it's really appreciated!**


	23. Part One: A Better Man

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything Harry Potter, not me. And I'm definitely not making any money off of this.**

**SUPER sorry (really doesn't cut it though), to be getting this out to everybody so late. Luckily, my computer's working once again, but being the clutz I am, I fell, fractured my elbow and now have nerve damage, so I couldn't get on the computer for a while. **

**Onto other information, this chapter is shorter than the recent ones, because it is only _one_ part of the chapter; the next part should be out soon. The reason for this is that the chapter has already well-surpassed all the others so far and it's not yet completely finished.**

**---**

**_The ending of chapter 22:_**

_Yeah," Janie said. "And guess what happened two days ago?"_

_"What?" Her grandmother smiled._

_"My dad saved my mum's life!"_

---

It wasn't much longer until people started to arrive, Timothy being one of the first. After Hermione had shown Severus around, she brought him outside and sat on her parent's swinging chair, which is where they were currently seated; Hermione now had her head resting on Severus and was currently talking about how they were going to tell everyone their news for tomorrow. Unbeknownst to them, Hermione's father had watched them secretly for a few minutes, from one of the kitchen's windows.

Meanwhile, in the warm Granger household…

"Tim!" Janie exclaimed, jumping off of the couch when he walked into the room, a small boy following closely behind his legs.

After Janie had hugged him, he looked at her and smiled, "Wow Janie, you've gotten so much bigger since I've last seen you. I think you were only around this tall," he said, showing her with his hand. "Anyways, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Tim announced, bringing the small boy forward.

"Awww!" Janie exclaimed, "He's so cute; I wish _I _had a little brother!"

"This is my son, Aiden," Tim said crouching down, so that he was level with his son. "Aiden, this is Janie; say hi."

"Hi," the small boy with brown hair and hazel eyes said.

"Hi!"

Aiden looked at Janie and then at his father, before hiding behind his legs.

Tim chuckled, "He's a little shy; come here, Aiden," and brought him out in front of him again.

"Is your mother here?" He asked Janie.

"Yep; she's in the backyard, with my dad," Janie said.

"Your…dad?"

"Yeah; he's a really nice guy, except sometimes when he's teaching," Janie informed him.

"Well listen," Tim said. "I'm going to go and talk to your mother; will you watch Aiden for me? If you or Aiden need anything, I'll be outside or his mother will be in the kitchen."

Janie nodded and took the small boy's hand, "C'mon Aiden; I'm going to show you something cool."

---

After enduring several of his aunts and uncles fussing over where Aiden was, Timothy had finally been able to escape to the back door. Quietly pushing it open, he stepped out into the cold air and shut the door; as soon as the door 'clicked' shut, Severus's head snapped up to see a man, with short brown hair looking right at them. When Severus opened his mouth to ask what the man wanted, Hermione opened her eyes and when she saw who it was, practically jumped off the seat.

"Hi Hermione," he said, as she ran up and hugged him.

"Oh my gods Tim, I haven't seen you in forever! How are you?"

"Fine, fine and I've seen you've done pretty well yourself," he said, nodding towards Snape, who got up to stand next to Hermione.

Hermione blushed, "Tim, this is Severus Snape, my fiancée and Severus, this is my cousin, Tim."

"Nice to meet you," Tim said grinning and stuck out his hand, which Severus shook.

"I didn't know you were getting married, 'Mione; when did this happen?" Tim asked, turning to face her.

She smiled, "Yesterday. Speaking of not knowing, I didn't even know you had gotten married…"

Severus quietly listened for several more minutes while they talked, until the two finally went inside; he could have sworn the last time that they saw each other would have been ten years ago.

"Janie sure has gotten big," Tim said. "I can't believe the last time I saw her was nearly six years ago; how time flies…"

Hermione nodded, "it sure does…By the way, I heard that I'm not the only one with a child anymore."

Tim nodded, "His name is Aiden and then there's one on the-"

"There you guys are!" Janie said, running over to the three adults, with Aiden chasing her; when Aiden had caught up, Janie bent over and whispered something in his ear.

Walking up to Janie's parents, Aiden looked at them with big, lovable eyes and said, "Hi My-o-knee, Se...Seh-wus; 'Em Jay-knee's bubbly," Aiden said, making Hermione's heart melt.

"Awww! He's _so_ adorable!" Hermione exclaimed, loving how Aiden pronounced "buddy" as "bubbly," while Severus rolled his eyes.

After Hermione had practically drooled over Aiden, with her eyes shining the entire time, they had left to venture into the kitchen, where Severus and Hermione were introduced to Tim's wife, Susan. There, Hermione was one of the many women who had enjoyed asking Susan questions, while she left Severus and Tim next to the wall.

A few minutes later, Aiden came running through, with what looked like a stick in his hand, with several little children and Janie, following closely behind.

"Aiden, come back; that's not a toy! Please Aiden; I need that for school! Aiden!" Janie exclaimed, trying to desperately get the object back.

"Oh no," Severus said quietly.

"What?" Tim asked.

"Your son has my daughter's-"

"Is that her wand?" Tim asked, making Snape stare at him.

"Hermione told me that she was a witch, but she didn't tell me that Janie was one too…," Tim said as Hermione walked over.

"Hermione," Severus said. "Aiden has a wand."

"What?" She asked, looking down the hallway as the boy climbed the stairs. "That's _my_ wand!" She said, taking off down the hallway after the group, Severus and Tim following closely behind.

"Can Aiden use the wand?" Tim asked, running up the stairs after the two.

"I don't kno-…WATCH OUT!" Hermione yelled, as four kids came running down the stairs, nearly knocking Hermione over.

"What?" Snape asked, as Aiden came running at him and then ducked under his legs.

When Janie saw the adults on the stairs, she immediately stopped, but the other two children didn't and ran right into Snape. While Snape was being the blockade, Aiden's father grabbed the back of his son's shirt, but Aiden lifted his arms and the shirt popped right off.

After Snape had glared at the children, who had run into him, and then told them not to play on the stairs, he moved aside and then turned to Janie, who ran straight passed them.

When the three children saw Janie coming their way, they laughed and ran through the kitchen, making Janie scowl at them; the three followed, yet again, hearing various shout-outs.

"Hermione; you're here?"

"Is that Timmy?"

"Who's that man?"

"Where are they all going in such a hurry?"

Janie led them outside and then stopped at the curb, before bolting down the street after them.

"Do we have to go after them? I mean, I doubt any of them could actually _use_ the wand," Severus said, stopping shortly to cross his arms.

Hermione stopped and turned around, sending him a nasty glare in his direction.

"Fine, you can stay here if you want Severus…but do you know what's beyond that row of houses?" She asked, pointing in front of her. "The highway, Severus; fast-moving cars and four children and _your_ daughter is headed straight for it and I'm not going to let her or any of them get hurt," she said, turning her back on Severus and started to run down the street.

"Does she know?" He asked quietly.

Hermione turned around, with a look of worry on her face, "No."

Worried, Severus caught up to them and when they heard a car horn, Hermione stopped.

"Severus, us your wand," she ordered. "We'll never make it in time…"

"I can't – not here; it's against the rules-"

"Since when have you given a damn about you bending the rules, Severus?" She all but seethed, heading down the street again.

Severus stood still for several seconds, as if trying to either make up his mind or hear something, when he started walking quickly down the street after the two, but instead of following them, he made a left, down another street. Making a few more short turns, he could hear the traffic and when he turned the last street, the four came into view.

As he neared them, he saw that Janie was helping the little girl, Shannon, off the ground, while yelling at the two boys, who were both dangerously close to the street. Aiden was standing farther from the death trap than the other boy, Ben, who was trying to get the wand from his hand, but when the boy reached out for the wand, Aiden whipped the wand away from his reach and a ray of light flew from the wand's tip. The spell hit the tree above Janie's head, making her pull Shannon out of the way, right before the branch collided where they were just standing.

Freaked out, Aiden started to slowly walk backwards, until his friend yelled for him to stop; by this time, Severus had passed Janie, who was slowly tugging Shannon back with her and was heading straight for the two boys.

"Do it again," Ben said. "That was cool."

Aiden shook his head.

"Well, you won't let me see the wand, so…do it again," he said again.

"No Ben-jee," Aiden said.

"Yes," Benjamin said, grabbing Aiden's wrist.

"No!" Aiden exclaimed, moving around the boy, to try and free his wrist, ending up dangerously close to the street.

Hearing quickly approaching footsteps, Ben glared at Aiden. "Fine," he said and shoved him, before turning around and almost ran right into Snape, but sidestepped out of the way.

Snape, who thought the little boy to be awfully rude, had really started running towards the two boys, after hearing their conversation; he had dealt with enough fights at school to learn where this one was going. He was behind the two boys as soon as the older one pushed Aiden, right into the street and then he turned to face Snape like nothing had happened and moved out of his way.

Luckily, before Aiden hit the ground, Severus had reached out and grabbed the small boy under his arms, the wand flying out into the street and rolling to the curb, grabbing Ben's attention.

"_Don't_ _touch it_," Severus said in a deadly tone, as he ousted Aiden up into the air, who immediately wrapped his bare arms around Severus, due to the cold.

"Go back to the house – all of you," he said, in a low voice that sent everybody scrambling back, while looking directly at Janie.

Once the three were sent running back down the street, Snape sent Aiden down, told him not to move and then retrieved the wand from the curb of the street. Turning around, he saw a shivering little boy, which made several memories come flooding back. The first one, was of Patrick at the Burrow, then one that made him think 'what if that was Janie, shivering in the cold,' finally coming to a memory of his own; it was snowing out and he was just a little boy, having been accidentally locked out of the house. He was stuck curled up on his porch, without a jacket and hiding, while it snowed outside; before he knew what he was doing, he took his long-sleeved shirt off and wrapped it around the small boy, picking him back up, only to have him cling to his white shirt.

When he turned back around, Tim and Hermione were heading up the street; a look of relief spreading across their faces when they saw that Severus had made it before them.

"Thank God, Severus; you've got him. Is everybody else all right; how's Janie?" Hermione asked, as he tried to hand Aiden back over to his father, but the little boy wouldn't stop clinging to Severus.

"I can't…thank you…enough," Tim said, finally able to catch his breath.

Snape nodded at Tim, still trying to pry Aiden off of his shirt, "Everybody else is fine."

"How'd you get here before us?" Tim asked, his face as equally pink as Hermione's.

"I knew of a shortcut," Severus replied simply, finally freeing Aiden and giving him back to his father.

After Tim took his son and gave him his sweater as well, Severus pulled out Hermione's wand from one of his trouser's pockets, "Missing something?"

"Thank you, Severus," she said, smiling as she took her wand back, while Tim decided to walk ahead of them, so that they could talk.

"You know Severus, that was awfully…_nice_ of you, letting Aiden use your shirt," Hermione said.

"He just…reminded me of some things; don't tell anybody at Hogwarts, McGonagall would never let me live it down, if she found out," he said, looking down at the pavement.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Hermione replied. "It might slip that you were running though, she only thinks that you're capable of walking quickly though the corridors…or as she put it the one time 'stalking through them at night.'"

He rolled his eyes.

"How did you get there before us anyways? I don't recall telling you of any shortcuts," she said.

"When you told me the address, I magically pulled up a map of the neighborhood, to see where we could apparate to," he replied. "See, I told you I knew where we were going."

She blushed, "Oh; well thank you – you have no idea how much this means to me, especially after giving Aiden your shirt…you must be freezing. I'd use a warming spell, but I don't know who's looking out their windows…," Hermione said, making Severus remember how Aiden used her wand.

"Hermione," he said. "I think Aiden might be a wizard."

She stopped dead, "What?"

"The Ministry's been using a spell on the wands, so that muggles can't use them," he stated.

"That doesn't answer my question; how can he be a wizard-"  
"That one rude boy tried to take the wand and your friend's son over there, yanked the wand away and accidentally fired a charm that knocked a tree branch down, nearly hitting Janie and that other girl," Severus informed her.

"Are Janie and Shannon alright?" She asked.

"They're fine," he replied. "Are you going to tell him?"

"Who?"

"Tim, that Aiden might be a wizard?" He asked.

"No, I don't think so. That's an old wand and there might not be any charms like that one on it; Ollivander didn't put charms on his wands, when I had gotten it. Either way, I guess he'll know two professors, if he goes to Hogwarts. Now, let's hurry it up, because I'm getting cold," Hermione said, crossing her arms.

"Sounds fine," Severus said, continuing down the path and wrapping his arm around Hermione as they continued their way down the street.

---

Before arriving back at her parent's house, Hermione had pulled Severus into an alley and had transfigured his white shirt into something more presentable, before they went back inside.

When they walked back into the house, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that only Susan, her mother, and two of her aunts were seated in the living room. Her mother and Susan's attention immediately went to Tim and Aiden, while her aunts' were immediately drawn to Severus, making him lean over and whisper in Hermione's ear.

"I didn't know we'd have to tell _this_ many people," he whispered.

Hermione smiled, "Don't worry; there's at least three people who didn't come."

---

Several hours later, after both enduring hugs and handshakes from the entire family and a toast at dinner, Severus and Hermione had finally finished telling everyone about their engagement and were free from most of the questioning glances. Being free, Hermione had left to help Susan carry out gifts, while leaving Severus and Tim with all the children.

The two silently observed while Janie tried explaining about the school she went to, without giving away any of its magical qualities. A few minutes later, Aiden came running up to his father.

"Dad, Shay says we get pesants," they young boy said.

Tim bent down and picked his son up, Severus watching them out of the corner of his eyes, "Presents?"

The boy nodded, "Shay told me."

"So Shannon told you that you're going to get presents tonight? Well, you know that you can only get them if you've been a good boy," Tim told the small boy in his arms.

Aiden looked scandalized, "But I am a good boy!"

Tim chuckled, "Yes you are," he said, setting down Aiden, who ran back to Janie and Shannon.

After watching for several more seconds with a smile on his face, Tim asked Severus, "It really is one of the best feelings in the world, isn't it?"

Severus turned to look at him, with an eyebrow raised, "What is?"

"Being a father; watching them grow and helping them in any way you possibly can," Tim replied, looking at the three kids.

Snape watched Janie for a few more moments, before replying softly, "Yes; yes it is."

"How is it while they get older?" Tim asked.

Severus remained silent.

"That bad?" The younger man asked.

"Honestly," Severus said. "I don't know."

Tim looked at Severus questioningly.

He sighed and replied quietly, "Hermione just informed me of Janie this year."

Tim looked utterly shocked, "But she said that you teach at a boarding school…"

"I do," Severus said and then sighed again. "There was a war thirteen years ago and I was in a…dangerous position as a…spy; it was for the best."

_Best my a-_ Severus tried adding quietly.

"Oh," Tim said quietly, both men now feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"Well, what matters now is that you're both together; you seem like a great guy…"

_You'd be surprised_, Severus thought as they stood in silence for several more moments, until Tim broke the silence.

"Watching them almost makes you want to have more," he said, as Janie and Shannon started to tickle Aiden. "So…are you and Hermione thinking about having any more kids?"

Snape almost gagged at the sudden, unexpected question. But, as soon as the gag had passed, he never really had thought about his feelings towards the subject, even after all of Janie's badgering. Before he could answer Tim's question, someone else interrupted him.

"No, because my mum got sick of me asking for a little brother, so she told me that if I ask again, I'm going to get 'the talk.' And then my dad told me that if I don't bring it up again, for the entire break, then he'd take me to the Quidditch store and buy me whatever I wanted," Janie said, popping up out of nowhere. "But that's only because my dad doesn't want to explain it to me. See, when I start bugging my mum, my dad said that he's not touching the topic with 'a ten foot pole,'" Janie finished in one breathe, making Tim chuckle and her father glare at her.

---

"Thanks so much for helping me, Hermione," Tim's wife said.

"It's no problem; besides, now it gives Severus and Tim a chance to talk," she replied, picking up a few boxes.

"You know, Tim will hardly let me lift anything now," she said, motioning towards her stomach. "Did Severus stop you from doing these kinds of things too?"

Hermione stopped. "He wasn't around while I was pregnant with Janie…he was stuck in a war."

"That must have been horrible," Susan gasped.

"What's the matter?"

"The baby kicked," she said. "She hardly ever kicks!" Susan exclaimed, grabbing Hermione's hand and put it on her stomach.

When she felt the baby kicked again, Hermione smiled.

"Are you and Severus going to have any more kids?" Susan asked, as Hermione turned to pick up more bags.

As soon as Susan's words had reached Hermione's ears, she froze midway from picking up her bags and then slightly turned.

"Ooo, I'm sorry; is it a touchy subject?" Susan asked.

"No…it's alright. It's just that I…_we_ never discussed it before," Hermione said, continuing to pick up her bags.

"But do _you_ want anymore?" Susan inquired.

"I don't think I would mind it too much, but in September, I got a new teaching job at a boarding school and Janie's finally off at school now…"

"It's just nice to have some time to yourself now," Susan stated.

Hermione's face worked itself into a bashful smile, "Yeah," she said and then followed Susan out of the room.

When they came back out of the living room, Hermione saw Severus glaring at Janie, who was right in front of him, bobbing about, while Tim was silently laughing.

_Oh no_, Hermione thought. _What did she say now_?

After Janie had heard her name called and had ran off, Hermione pulled all the gifts out of the many bags she had carried in and then went up to stand next to Severus.

"Our child is such a bundle of joy," he said sarcastically.

Hermione turned to look at him, "Oh no; what'd she do?"

"Does she always like to share our business with other people or was that just a spur-of-the-moment thing?" Severus asked.

"No, she pretty much likes to share things with people; what _exactly _did she say?" Hermione asked.

"She told your cousin about that little problem she's been having lately…"

Hermione looked at him blankly.

"About the…you know…_thing_ she wants-"

"Oh, _that_ issue," Hermione said, a small blush creeping up onto his cheeks.

All Severus could give her was an "are-you-serious" look.

---

After an hour of excitement and opening gifts, all that was left on the floor was wrapping paper, empty boxes, and the several piles of all the children's new belongings. After Hermione had finished tinkering with Shannon's new toy for her, she stretched, leaned up against the wall, and yawned.

"Tired?" Severus asked with raised eyebrows.

"No, I just felt like yawning," Hermione said sarcastically, making Severus send her a look.

"If you're that tired, we could just go home," he said, trying to hide the enthusiasm from his voice. "No, it's alright' I can make it for a little bit longer. Besides, it's almost midnight and everybody's usually gone by then; I think two of my aunts already left and Tim left fifteen minutes ago with Susan and Aiden…," Hermione said, slightly shocked that Severus had referred to his manor as 'home.'

Fifteen minutes later, they had moved into the kitchen, due to Hermione's wanting to talk to the remaining relatives, which were just her parents. As soon as Hermione's father saw her, he pulled her into another room.

"Hermione," her father said, after they were safely out of earshot, "I'm sorry for what I said earlier, about Severus."

"It's-"

"No; I know what you're going to say and no, it's not alright. I guess I didn't realize how hard I was being with you, until your daughter had told us some things. And after watching you three together today, it just seemed so…_normal_, seeing you two together with him.

"It's just that you two seem perfect together and I am sorry for what I said," he finished, hugging his daughter.

When he pulled away, he saw that Hermione's eyes were glistening. Deciding rather to avoid the oncoming conversation that he knew that was going to come, he inquired as to where Severus was and Hermione pointed towards the kitchen.

As the two arrived back into the kitchen, they saw Janie eating a piece of cake and Severus, who was putting away some dishes on the very top shelf for Mrs. Granger.

When Mrs. Granger saw the two return and then the look on her daughter's face, she quickly ushered Janie out of the room, while carrying her chocolate-frosted cake for her. Hearing Janie complain about not being able to eat her cake, Severus turned around and once he saw the look on Hermione's face, he narrowed his eyes at Mr. Granger, who stuck his hand out for Severus to shake. Severus cautiously took the proffered hand and right when Severus thought that Hermione's father was going to shake his hand, he pulled Severus forward and hugged him.

"Welcome to the family," he said and released a very shocked Severus Snape.

After he had released Severus, John Granger shook his hand and gave him the "Im-glad-that-my-daughter-is-marrying-you,-but-if-you-ever-hurt-her,-I'll-hunt-you-down-and-kill-you" speech.

"Don't worry," Severus assured. "I would never hurt her and if my some off-chance that I ever did, there's already a long line ready to sign off on my death announcement."

After a few more words, on his way out, John Granger patted Severus on the shoulder and went out to see what his granddaughter was up to, leaving Severus and Hermione alone in the kitchen.

"See, I told you that everything would work out fine," Hermione replied tiredly.

"Are you ready to go now?" Severus nearly whispered, so that Hermione's parents wouldn't overhear them.

"Almos-" Hermione let out a content sigh when Severus came up behind her and started to massage her shoulders.

Hermione in return, leaned up against him, "Thank you for being so…nice today; I do have to admit though, it was very unlike you," she said and closed her eyes.

"Really now?" He asked, as he raised an eyebrow.

"Mm-hmm," she replied. "I think I like the snarky you better, even though today _was_ nice."

"So you don't want me to be 'nice' tomorrow?" He asked.

"I think if you acted like you did today, they all might think that I've drugged you…a few of them might actually die of shock, before they even get the chance to ask. Even though this side of you _is_ nice to see _once_-in-a-while; I definitely like the old you."

"You do, do you?" He asked, biting back a smirk.

"Yes," she said, reaching up to kiss him, but her mother came through the door instead.

As soon as Hermione heard the door open and caught a glimpse of her mother walk through (who glanced out of the corner of her eye at the two), she almost jumped away from Severus, but his grip on her shoulders kept her right where she was.

Walking over to her cupboards, Mrs. Granger spoke, "Don't mind me; I just came in here to see if I put my desert plate away…"

_Mmm-hmm_, Hermione thought, knowing that it was just an excuse to see what they were doing.

"Anyways," Mrs. Granger continued. "Your daughter's eyelids are hanging out there; your father had to pull her plate of cake away from her, otherwise, she would have fallen face-first into it."

_That's my daughter! Someone has to remind me to thank her when she wakes up_, Severus thought, seeing an opportunity to go back to his manor.

"Well, I guess we'd better get Janie off to bed then," Hermione said, leaving the room to get her daughter, Severus following her out at her heels.

When they arrived where Janie was currently seated, Hermione's father was standing behind her, holding a plate of cake and smiling.

"Janie," Hermione said softly as she gently shook the young girl's shoulders.

Janie's head snapped up, "What? I _swear_ I wasn't sleeping Professor!"

All three adults stared at Janie; two of them looking at each other wearily, while one was silently chuckling to himself.

"I guess everyone needs a break from school," Mr. Granger commented, as Hermione helped Janie up and then hugged her father goodbye.

Hermione left her father and Severus, who were shaking hands, to find her mother. When she came back, Severus was standing with his hands on Janie's shoulders, keeping her standing up straight; after a few more words, the three of them apparated home.

---

The next morning, Janie awoke later than she normally did on Christmas morning and immediately looked for her presents on the foot of her bed, only to find them all missing.

_Hey!? Where are my presents?_ She thought as she climbed out of bed and slipped on her slippers.

Leaving her room, Janie walked to her mother's room and when she wasn't there, she carefully walked into her father's room and when nobody answered the door, after she had knocked, she quietly peaked into the room. Looking around the room, her confused look quickly turned into a glare.

_Where_ are _they?_ She thought as she made her way downstairs, only to find it oddly silent.

After searching three rooms and then the library, she finally found them, along with all the presents, which were all neatly wrapped under a Christmas tree.

"Mum!" Janie exclaimed, making Hermione jump and almost spill her drink on the couch. "Dad! I was supposed to wake you two up; that's how it goes every year!"

"Nice to see you're finally up; we were starting to wonder if you'd ever wake up," her father said.

"Besides," her mother said. "You needed the sleep; you could hardly stand up straight last night."

Janie had a smug expression on her face and her arms were crossed.

"Well, are you going to open your presents or just stand there looking like your father?" Hermione asked, waiting for her daughter to dive into her pile of presents.

"Oh yeah!" Janie exclaimed, racing to sit down on the floor, next to the tree.

When she was done opening half of her gifts, she found several gifts that did not belong to her and that were also not from her.

"Mum…Dad, you have more gifts under the tree," Janie said, picking up a small rectangular package and went to throw it to Hermione, but her father had stopped her.

"Don't throw that!" Severus said, jumping up from his seat and took the package out of Janie's hand, which was still frozen in midair.

Hermione scowled at Janie, "What did I tell you about throwing things?"

Janie looked at her mother sheepishly, "Not to do it, because I usually break things."

Hermione was about to comment, but her attention was quickly shifted when Severus slipped the small package into her hands.

"Dad, you've…got…one…two," Janie said, lugging a very heavy package over to her father, who took it from her.

"Merlin Hermione, didn't you use any charms on this?" He asked.

"Yes, I us – oh my gods Severus, this is _beautiful_!" Hermione exclaimed and then looked up at him. "You didn't have to give me this…Besides, I thought that…" she said, motioning towards her ring finger.

He gave a small smirk, "Merry Christmas."

Hermione looked down at the beautiful, heart-shaped, silver locket that had the letter "H" inscribed in fancy lettering on the front.

"Turn it around," Severus said quietly.

When Hermione turned the locket around, she gasped; on the back of the locket, was an inscribed picture that was moving. She watched as the head of a majestic lion roared and then the picture would switch to one of a snake that slithered up to the front of the locket, to show its face. Before the snake faded away, the lion's face would appear, so that they both stayed together for several seconds and then it would repeat itself.

"You can wear it either way; once it's flipped, the opening will switch, so that it's on the correct side," Severus explained.

Hermione looked up at him, her eyes shinning. "This is _so_ beautiful, Severus; thank you," she said sincerely and reached up to kiss him, while Janie unwrapped a chocolate frog and ate it.

"Can you put if on for me?" Hermione asked and he nodded.

Turning around, Hermione lifted her hair up for him to put on the necklace and when she was done, she admired it while Severus opened his exceedingly heavy gift. When the wrapping fell way, which of course, was green and silver, Severus was shocked to find four very large, black potion tomes, with ancient writing on the cover.

He turned to Hermione, immediately knowing what the tomes were and tried to speak, "How did you…these are impossible to get…no one knew where they were…I…"

"Good, I was hoping you'd like them. Do you know that your are terribly hard to shop for?" Hermione replied smiling.

"But _how_?" Was all that he managed to stumble out.

"One of the children I tutored grandmothers, had asked me if I would help move some things out of her cellar; she had these books that her husband used to have and asked me if I wanted them. Well, of course I said 'yes;' I definitely couldn't pass the opportunity up," Hermione explained, pointing at the books.

"I didn't see them in your lab…or in your quarters," he said, still not taking his eyes off of the potion tomes.

"That's because they were still in my vault at Gringotts; I couldn't leave them laying on a shelf that Janie could-"

"What?" Janie asked when she heard her name.

"Nothing – go back to opening your presents," Hermione said and Janie shrugged in response.

"As I was saying…I had three of the books in my vault – the fourth one was a bit harder to track down; it ended up being in Romania-"

"You didn't buy it, did you?" Severus asked.

"It turned out that Charlie Weasley had talked to the previous owner of the book before and was able to help me out and cut a deal," Hermione said.

Severus opened the top book and flipped through it, his jaw getting closer to the floor with every turned page.

"These are _ancient_; Hermione, I don't know what to s-" he started, but was cut off by a shriek for Janie.

"Oh…my…GOD! This is _awesome_! How in the world did you get this? Is it really mine?" Janie asked, holding up a display case.

In the display case, was a golden snitch that was propped up on a stand and the plate on the display case read that it was from the longest World Cup Quidditch match in history.

"You're forgetting who your parents are," Hermione said smiling. "We have connections."

Janie got up and somehow got her arms around both of her parents and hugged them. As she brought them closer together, one of the ancient potion tomes started to slip off of Severus's lap and when he ducked under to get it and out of the embrace, Janie fell forwards and hit her head on her mother's chin.

"Ow!"

"Severus!"

"What?" He asked, securing the potion tome.

"Thanks Dad," Janie said sarcastically. "I hit my head on mum's chin!"

Snape looked at the two, "My book was falling…besides, you both look fine now."

Hermione glared at him while Janie smacked his arm, "That's what you get for making me hurt mum…"

"I didn't hurt your mother," he said.

"How do you know?" Janie asked. "Didn't I hurt you Mum?"

"Owwww," Hermione over exaggerated, while rubbing her chin.

Severus glared at her, "You're fine; you both are-"

"It was just a book-" Janie started, but received two shocked looks. "What?"

"'Just a book?'" Hermione asked. "Do you know what those books are? How valuable they are?"

"All old tomes are like that," Janie said.

"Exactly," Severus said. "They're ancient, which means they can also easily break."

Hermione and Janie both rolled their eyes at this.

"And I bet there are even spells that are older than that too," Janie mumbled, sitting back down next to her presents.

While her parents resituated themselves on the couch, Janie opened up the rest of her presents and then sorted them into several piles. Among the snitch that her parents had given her, she had also gotten a huge box of chocolate frogs from Ron and then a tabletop Quidditch game from Harry, along with the two gifts, she had also received a note saying, "_You'll get the rest of your present when you come over later_," which she stuffed inside her pocket for safe-keeping. From Lyss she got a friendship bracelet and then from Matt, a large bag full of every kind of candy that Honeydukes had ever sold. Then, from the Weasley twins, she had gotten a large bag full of their latest pranks, with a card that said "_test them on your parents,_" Ginny had given her beautiful scarlet dress robes and then from Mrs. Weasley, her annual gifts: a box of sweets, a hand-knitted sweater with a "J" on it, and a then few other small items. One present that she decided not to mention to her parents at the moment, especially to her father, was the ones given to her by Scott Narls. In the card that he had sent her, Scott wrote that he wasn't "_very good at picking things out for girls_" and sent her green headbands (the reason being that he thought she belonged in Slytherin), ink that would dot every "i" and "j" with little moving snitches, and then a tiny snitch that would follow its owner around, wherever they went; Janie immediately thought it was cute and had it following her around in minutes.

After she was done looking through everything, one of the house elves had taken everything up to her room, leaving Hermione and Janie alone; Severus had disappeared somewhere to put his new books away. Hermione raised her eyebrow at Janie when she had started to crawl around under the Christmas tree, searching every inch under the decorated branches.

"Janie, what are you doing?" Hermione asked when her daughter flipped up the rug that the tree was currently standing on.

"Looking for something," Janie replied simply.

"I can see that, but what are you looking _for_?" Hermione asked, getting up from her seat.

"I think I've might've missed a card…"

"No, I think you've gotten everything," her mother replied.

"Not _everything _I wanted…" Janie trailed off, continuing her drawn-out search.

Hermione's face screwed up in confusion for a few seconds, but then she realized what Janie was talking about, just in time for Severus to walk into the room and see her annoyed expression.

"What's wrong?" He asked, unsure if he should continue his way into the room or not.

"She's on about _it_ again," Hermione informed him.

Severus raised his eyebrows and then quickly turned around to exit the room, but Hermione's hand had stopped him.

"Aren't you going to do something about it?" She asked.

Severus looked at Hermione and then focused on Janie, "Janie, you're not getting a brother anytime soon, so stop badgering your mother."

He then swiftly turned around to leave, but instead found Hermione staring stupidly at him.

"Better?" He asked.

Hermione shook her head, like trying to get rid of a thought, "No that's not better – I think you just made it worse," she said, pointing at Janie, whose eyes momentarily sparkled.

"No brother, end of story," he said flatly.

"Umm," Janie said, quickly trying to change the subject. "Do you know how much you two worried me when I couldn't find either of you this morning? I had to run to both of your rooms, which was a pain, because most parents actually _share_ a room and then I was running all around the house," Janie said, inching towards an exit, making her father raise his eyebrows and her mother go and shut the door behind him.

"But then I found you guys and I wasn't worried anymore…imagine that," she said, turning around to leave, but Hermione came out of nowhere and shut the door, leaving Janie starring in horror at her mother and the closed door.

"He…he…he…," Janie said slowly. "I was only joking…Hey look Mum – dad's trying to leave!" Janie said, pointing at her father, who hadn't moved from his spot since Hermione had shut the first door.

"No I'm not," he defended as Hermione turned to look at him and then suddenly, they heard a door slam.

Hermione growled in frustration, "That little rat!"

Severus opened the door and heard someone loudly running up the stairs, giggling.

"Well, she's certainly quick enough to be one," he said, earning an irritated glare from Hermione.

---

A few hours later, Janie came running down the stairs, wearing her new purple sweater with a silver "J" on it. Going into the kitchen, Janie looked out the large floor-to-ceiling window, to see her parents walking in the slowly falling snow and smiled. On any other day, Janie would have ducked outside and surprised them, but seeing as she was still avoiding her mother, she ran upstairs and grabbed her camera instead.

_There are absolutely _no_ pictures of them together and now I have an excellent idea for a gift for them_, Janie thought as she turned the flash off and snapped a few wizarding pictures of her parents, slipping the camera back into her pocket.

---

Not even an hour later, Hermione was calling for Janie to come down the stairs. Looking at the clock, Janie saw that is was about time to leave, so she made her way down the stairs, passing her mother on the way.

"I'll be right down Janie – I'm going to see what's taking your father so long," she said.

Hopping down the last step, Janie sat down in one of the chairs next to the giant staircase and laughed when she heard her mother's voice.

"You don't have to wear that; it's only Harry and Ron," she said. "Put your sweater on; the one from Mrs. Weasley."

"I'm not wearing that," Severus said.

"Everybody is going to be wearing theirs-"

"Except me," he stated. "Besides, I want to see if I'd give your two friends a heart attack, if I wear color."

"You'd kill them if you wore your sweater," she pointed out.

"Yes, but then I'd have to hear about it from you," he replied.

Hermione huffed.

"If I wear it, I'll have nothing to start my fire with tonight," he explained.

"Severus Snape!" She exclaimed, thrusting the dark green sweater into his hands. "I swear, if you do that…I'll stick my hands in the fire to retrieve it."

He looked at her, "You'll burn yourself."

"I'm well aware of that," she said stubbornly.

"Then I'll certainly never hear the end of it from you," he said, throwing the clothing down on his bed and then started to unbutton his dark green dress shirt.

"What are you doing?" She inquired.

"Changing my shirt," he said, pausing.

"Aren't you going to kick me out?" She asked.

He looked at her, "Why would I do that?"

"Because you did it all the other times –wait; you're not one of those men who act like pigs when they're married, are you?"

Snape almost snorted, "Merlin no; I can't imagine anybody can actually do that."

"Thank God," Hermione said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"It's just that I've grown a lot more…comfortable around you," he explained. "Did you know that once, after a…meeting, I had charmed my clothes to my body, so that Poppy couldn't take my clothes off? So it's just not you – it's everybody."

Hermione nodded, "I'm glad that you told me that; thank you."

Snape nodded and continued to unbutton his shirt. Seeing what he was doing, Hermione turned her back to him.

"Hermione, what are you doing?"

"Blocking my view," she said.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because I want to go tonight," she stated, making him narrow his eyes, until her motives became apparent.

Smirking to himself, he fixed his shirt and called for her to open her eyes.

"Alright, you can look now," he said.

Hermione turned around and her jaw literally hit the floor. He had scrunched up his sleeves to his elbows, titled his shirt to the right, and had only the first few buttons undone; if he wasn't smirking before, Severus was surely smirking now. Hermione was standing there, staring open-mouthed, until Severus walked up, extended a finger, and closed her mouth.

"It's not always polite to stare," he said smoothly.

"Umm," Hermione said, turning around and walking to one of his wardrobes. "You need a shirt…to go under your sweater," she said, pausing between almost every-other-word.

Snape's smirk broadened when she paused at one of the drawers, fumbling over which one to open.

"Below that one," he said, quietly walking up behind her and then wrapped his arms around her mid-section, as she started to get up.

"Thank you," he replied when he saw her holding one of his plain, white t-shirts.

"You're wel-" Hermione stopped in mid-sentence when she felt him kiss her neck; his hold on her tightened, when the rest of her sentence was replaced by a content sigh. Hermione turned her head to kiss him back, but Janie's voice had made them stop.

"Jeez, you two take _forever_," Janie yelled up the stairs. "You know, I'm going to come up and take a picture of whatever you're doing, so Uncle Harry knows why we're late."

"We'll be right dow-" Hermione stopped and started to silently giggle.

_They have to do this _now? Janie thought, rolling her eyes. _Of course they had to wait until we have to go somewhere…she just _had_ to go up into his room…_Janie's eyes popped wide open – she suddenly had the _perfect_ idea.

---

"Alright Severus; as much as I would hate for this to stop, we really do have to get going," she said, pushing him off her.

"Why do you always have to be so punctual? Sometimes, can't you just be late?" Severus asked.

"This is coming from you?" Hermione asked.

"Be late for once; take chances – you'll have more fun," he replied as she took a step backwards and stumbled over one of Severus's boots and fell backwards; Severus immediately grabbing her arms – pulling them into an almost defensive position.

His eyes quickly darted to the object behind them and then at her eyes; a flicker of brightness passing over his. In one swift movement, Severus kicked his boots away from behind Hermione and pushed her backwards, until she fell over onto the bed; Hermione quickly scurrying to where his pillows were, while he shrugged off his shirt and grabbed the white one off of his bed.

_No, no, no…_Hermione thought to herself, when Snape looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

Getting an idea, he took the white shirt and then strung it through one of his belt loops, letting it hang loosely at his side.

_Yes, yes…yes_, Hermione thought, while Snape "conveniently" listened in.

With a perplexing smile on his face, Snape made his way stealthily up onto the bed and crawled over to Hermione, his shoulder bones moving almost like those of a cat's. Right as he looked down at Hermione's face, they heard something that sent a chill down their spines.

"Really Uncle Harry, they _won't…come…down_!"

Hearing their daughter's voice, Snape hung his head down and groaned, while Hermione growled in frustration.

Looking back up, Severus asked, "Why did we bring her along again?"

Hermione closed her eyes and just slightly shook her head.

"I'm serious," he continued. "Just one day…one day with no interrupt-" He stopped when Hermione reached up and kissed him, before slipping off of the bed and stopped at the door, sending him a quick smile and then left.

---

"It's about time!" Janie exclaimed, jumping out of her seat, while Hermione looked around.

"Is Harry here?" She asked.

"No, but I was seriously thinking about flooing him," Janie said, earning a look from her mother. "Well, what was I supposed to do? You and dad wouldn't come downstairs!" She whined.

"You could have come upstairs and knocked," Hermione pointed out.

"Umm…no thanks," Janie said, turning around and ran right into her father.

"Ready to go?" He asked, while Janie had to do a double-take at what he was wearing.

"Yeah…sure," Janie replied slowly. "How are we getting there anyways?"

"We're flooing," Hermione informed her.

"You know," Severus said to Janie, as they walked to the grand fireplace, used for mainly flooing. "You've been acting strange lately all month; what's gotten into you?" He asked.

"Janie shrugged, "I dunno; the holiday season?"

---

When they arrived in Weasley's empty study, Severus cleared the soot from them with a flick of his wand and then the two followed Hermione out of the small room and out into the Weasley's living room.

"Oh good; you all made it!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "Oh! And you're _all_ wearing your sweaters; how splendid!" She continued, admiring all of their sweaters.

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley for inviting us," Hermione replied, hugging the motherly figure.

"Oh you know you're always welcomed here; all of you," the older witch said, taking the time to hug Janie and Severus.

"Severus! I'm go glad that you could make it this year – and you're even wearing your sweater!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, causing many people to do a double-take at him; when Ron and Ginny saw him, their eyeballs practically popped out of their heads.

Before Hermione could leave the room and meet other people, Ginny had grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side.

"Hermione, we need to talk," Ginny said, pulling her into Mr. Weasley's office.

"Merry Christmas to you too," Hermione said sarcastically.

"Merry Christmas indeed!" The younger witch exclaimed and grabbed Hermione's hand. "What is _that_?"

Hermione's cheeks turned pink, "It's an…Ginny, you know what it is!"

Ginny squealed. "I'm so happy for you, 'Mione," she said and hugged her friend.

"When did he ask? Because you didn't have it at the bar, when we were there," Ginny asked.

Hermione gave a small smile; it was the first time that the bar incident had been mentioned.

"The night before Christmas Eve," she informed her friend.

Ginny nodded, her face turning serious, "There's something else that we need to talk about, Hermione…it's about what happened at the bar."

"What do you mean 'what happened'- we both saw what happened-"

Ginny shook her head.

"What do you mean 'no?'" Hermione asked.

"'Mione, when Malfoy attacked you and flung you backwards and into the booth, you must've hit your head, because when I reached you, you were out cold; you missed everything that happened."

"'Everything that happened?' Ginny, what happened?" Hermione asked, desperately confused and not liking the feeling she was getting at all.

"Well for one thing, right after Malfoy pushed you back into the booth, your fiancée punched him out, not-to-mention that when he saw him kiss you, he was knocking people over in the bar, just to get to you."

"He saw that?" Hermione asked, still in awe about the fact that he had punched a Malfoy in the face and had gotten away without being hexed. "But he never said anything to me about it – or anything that had happened on that matter…"

"Hermione," Ginny said, lowering her voice. "He protected you while you were out; like that if anything bad had happened to you, the world would end. It was so unlike Snape; he even called you his _'wife_._' _One thing's for sure though, he scared the living day lights out of me, with the tones he was talking to Malfoy in," she said, Hermione looking at her, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

It was then that Ginny told her what had really happened at the bar and almost an hour later, the two emerged out of the office and back into the living room.

Hermione immediately spotted Severus, who was sitting across from Lupin and Mr. Weasley, while Harry was leaning up against the wall. Seeing her opportunity, Hermione walked over to them and wished each one a Merry Christmas, while Snape wondered where she had been all this time, because he had been forced to listen to the three talk about their lives. After she had greeted them, Hermione sat down next to Severus and discreetly slipped her hand into his, while Ginny walked up to stand next to Harry.

Severus looked at Hermione and was going to ask her where she had been for all that time, but he immediately stopped when he saw her eyes.

"Hermione, are you alright?" He asked quietly.

"Yes," she said, scooting closer to him. "I'm fine."

He raised a questioning eyebrow, disbelieving her words. Meanwhile, Ginny and Harry were carrying out their own interrogation.

"And where did you disappear to?" Harry asked.

"I had to talk with Hermione," Ginny simply stated.

"About what?" He asked.

"Boy, you're nosy today; anyways, I had to talk to her about what happened at the bar," she told him.

"Oh yes; are you going to tell me what happened yet?" Harry asked hopefully.

Ginny shook her head; "You're going to have to find that out from Hermione or Snape for yourself," she said quietly. "But I will tell you what Hermione can't; Snape scared me."

"He scares a lot of people-"

"No Harry, this was different' as if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was standing in front of me, with his wand pointed between my eyes; I've never heard him speak so harshly, especially to a Malfoy and the look that he had in his eyes – he really does care for her, Harry. It's like she's the fire to his candle and if it ever went out, so would he; I guess that's why they're _finally_ getting married…."

Before Harry could reply to this new information, Hermione's voice had stopped him.

"Where's Janie?" She asked the small group.

Harry looked nervously at Lupin, while Mr. Weasley looked down; Snape rolled his eyes at their actions, but knew that no one wanted to be in her aim of fire later.

"She's outside, playing Quidditch," Severus informed her, hoping that she wouldn't explode.

"She's _what_?" Hermione asked, hoping that for once, her ears had failed her.

"Playing Quidditch – with the Weasleys," he said, going into further detail.

Hermione stared at Harry, "And why aren't _you_ out there – or you?" She asked, looking then at Severus. "I bet no one's even supervising them _and _it's cold outside!"

"Well, someone had to tell you," Harry said, earning a scowl form both Hermione and Severus.

"She's perfectly fine, Hermione," Remus said. "I think Bill and Charlie are watching them…"

"And Fred and George are out there too," Mr. Weasley added.

Upon hearing this, Hermione and Severus immediately got up from their seats and went to go check on Janie, but stopped when she came through the door, lugging something heavy behind her.

"Hey Mum; Dad, look at what Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron gave me for Christmas!" Janie exclaimed, opening up the large box to reveal a complete, brand-new Quidditch set.

**A/N: Alright, I know that I said the Weasley twins would be in here and don't worry, they really are coming up; next chapter should go from the rest of Christmas, all the way to Valentine's Day. After the real chapter 24 is up (not the second half to this), I'll put the two parts to this chapter together, so they'll be on one page. Hopefully, I'll have a website ready for this story, where you can check on how the chapters are going, as well as reading summaries for each chapter, character descriptions, ect.; if it is ready before the rest of this chapter is put up, the link will be put as my homepage in my profile. (As a side note, the title does not have anything to do with the lyrics to Pearl Jam's _Better Man_.) Thanks to all of those who have reviewed and keep on reading the story; it really does keep me going and it's really appreciated – thanks!**


	24. Part Two: Your Man

**Disclaimer: Nope, it all belongs to J.K. Rowling and so does all the money. The title of this chapter also belongs to Josh Turner, and _definitely_ not me and no money is being made on this either.**

**Finally! The second part! I know that it took a lot longer than I anticipated getting out and I'm really sorry for that! I tried to get it out on Janie's birthday, which was December 12th, but that didn't work, so then I tried getting it out before the holidays…and then _that_ didn't work, but it's finally here! Alright, now, there's a little bit of bad news and a little bit of GOOD news. Here's the good news: just the second part of this chapter is actually double-the-size of the longest chapter out so far, with a whopping fifty-one _typed_ pages; I hope it's not too long! Now, onto the bad news: as much as I would hate to say this, but this story is sadly coming to a close, with what looks like two more chapters after this one. Now, I don't want to delay you any farther…**

After Janie had shown them the Quidditch set, Hermione had angrily paced around, practically yelling and rambling on about how inappropriate the gift was (while Harry and Ron were nowhere to be seen), until she was convinced to sit back down; somehow, the group had managed to stay away from talking about anything Quidditch or school-related, until dinner time.

During dinner, before Hermione or Severus had the chance, someone had let slip (their guess was that either Ginny or Janie blabbed; their money was on Ginny) the news about their engagement; so when they sat down at the table everybody was looking at them with big, goofy smiles. Needless to say it was very hard for them to finish eating dinner, for it seemed that everyone had to hug them or shake their hands. Thankfully, Mrs. Weasley had threatened that if anybody had asked any more questions on the topic during dinner, then they wouldn't get any dessert; the table immediately fell quiet within seconds, but as soon as dinner was over and the dessert was passed out, they were once again, bombarded with questions. Getting an idea, Hermione quickly excused her and Severus outside and agreed to let Janie play Quidditch.

While outside, Hermione watched as Harry transfigured six trees into the six Quidditch goal posts and then drew the boundaries of the field with his wand. Right when she was about to ask him what spell he used, four blurs of red ran passed her and onto the Quidditch field.

"All right!"

"Quidditch!" The unmistakable voices of the notorious Weasley twins yelled.

Hermione rolled her eyes at the twins and went to sit down on a bench, but stopped when a hand grabbed her from the behind.

"Congratulations, Hermione," Ron said when she turned around and hugged her with an arm, for the other one was holding his broomstick. "I really am happy for you…and Snape," he said with a small smile.

Hermione reached up and placed a small peck on Ron's cheek, making him blush and cover the spot with his hand.

"I guess that's the last kiss I'm ever gonna get from you," Ron said jokingly, taking his hand down from his face.

"What?" Hermione asked, confused.

Ron motioned towards a glaring Snape and before she had anytime to react, he walked right up to him and stuck his hand out. Unfolding his arms, Severus hesitantly shook his hand.

"Congratulations Sir, on your engagement; Hermione couldn't be with a better man," Ron said sincerely.

Slightly taken back, all Severus could answer with was, "Thank you, Mr. Weasley."

Ron nodded and went to join the others on the make-shift Quidditch field. After watching them play Quidditch for fifteen minutes and wondering how in the world that they didn't have icicles hanging off of their noses yet, Hermione gave up on standing and sat down on the wooden bench.

"You know Severus, you can sit down too," Hermione said, after several minutes.

"I'm fine," was his only reply.

"Please? You're making me nervous," she lied.

"Fine," he said, rolling his eyes and sat down.

After watching Fred dodge a bludger aimed at him (which was aimed at his head, courtesy of George, for a rather rude comment), Hermione decided that it would be a good idea to use Severus's arm as a headrest.

_I'm starting to think that I'm more use to her as a pillow than anything else_, Severus thought, as he looked at Hermione when he felt a weight on his shoulder.

"No you're not," Hermione replied, with her eyes closed.

"Sorry; I just wanted to see if you get annoyed when I do that. Besides, I'm cold and I can't believe they're not either," she said, motioning towards the flying figures, with her hand.

"That's because there's probably a warming spell on their brooms – I know there's one on Janie's," he replied, taking his wand out and then performed two spells.

After he was done, Hermione soon became aware of something gently flapping against her leg in the wind. When she looked over, she found that Severus had some how conjured up his cape, that normally was on the outer part of his normal, black robes.

Seeing her questioning glance, Severus spoke, "It's going to take a little while for the warming spell to find and warm the perimeter that I set up for it."

Hermione nodded and grabbed his cloak.

"What are you doing?" He asked, as she scooted closer to him and wrapped it around her too.

"Keeping warm," she stated.

"Do you want a blanket?" He asked.

Hermione mentally rolled her eyes, "But it's so much better if we share; body heat is much better than artificial heat, when stuck out in the cold."

Severus sighed and gave her more of his cloak to use. Within five minutes, the air around them had become generally warmer and in two more minutes, it felt like they were sitting in front of a fireplace.

As if almost on cue, right as Hermione felt herself starting to nod off, she heard a voice that made her fly upwards.

"Why, don't we look cozy," the unmistakable voice of Minerva McGonagall said.

"Minerva," Severus growled, crossing his arms. "What are _you_ doing here?" He finished with a sneer.

"Don't sneer Severus; it's Christmastime…you might scare the children," the older witch said, walking straight passed them and up to the house.

"I'm just here to pick up some Christmas pastries that Molly made and I'll be off," McGonagall said, entering the house.

"And to think; I thought I wouldn't have to see her for another few days…" Severus mumbled.

"A few days?" Hermione questioned.

"Yes; Dumbledore has a New Year's Eve party every year and all entire staff are expected to show up at least once," he informed her.

"How much fun," Hermione said sarcastically, while something was tugging on the corner of her sweater; looking down, she saw a small boy looking back at her.

"Hi Patrick!" Hermione exclaimed, turning around to face the small boy.

"Hi Auwnt 'My-oh-knee," Patrick said smiling and then spotted Severus, his face lighting up. "Hi Un-cwle Snape," he said, earning a raised eyebrow from the man.

"Patrick, what happened to 'Uncle Severus?'" Hermione asked.

"My Un-cwle 'Ed calls 'em Snape. Did you no-tice Auwnt 'My-oh-knee, my ta-king is gettin' bet-'er!"

"Yes, I did notice Patrick!"

"My dad said I'll be ta-king real good soon," he said smiling.

_Well_, Severus mentally corrected the small boy.

"You're getting so much better at speaking; if I didn't see your face, I wouldn't even have known that it was you!" Hermione congratulated.

Snape rolled his eyes.

Patrick's smile widened even more, "T'anks! Hey, can you get my dad for me; mum needs 'em."

"Sure," Hermione said, standing up and shrugging off the cloak. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she yelled for George, but because they were too busy not paying attention, no one heard.

It wasn't until Hermione yelled his name several more times and she pulled out her wand, did Snape roll his eyes again and finally decide to help.

"WEASLEY!" Snape shouted, causing all but two brooms to stop moving in the air and Ron to be hit in the head by the quaffle.

"George," Hermione called up to the stopped players. "Katie needs you!"

When George flew down and dismounted his broom, his son ran up to him and hugged him, "Mum says you gotta come in an' help Gwan with sum-thin; she also said no more spelling the mit-tle tow to twap people anymore."

George completely shocked, "What mistletoe?" He asked and then smiled guiltily.

"The one that trapped Remus and I under your kitchen doorway," McGonagall said, walking passed the group.

George turned around from her view, closed his eyes and pretended to gag.

"That's disgusting!" Fred said, who had joined the group, along with Charlie and Bill. "The mistletoe was supposed to be meant for other people; like Harry and Ginny or Hermione and Snape! We would have gotten them too; thanks, Professor."

Hermione and Snape both sent quivering glares in Fred's direction.

"I hope none of the children saw that," Charlie said, referring to what McGonagall was forced to do.

"And why is that, Mr. Weasley?" She asked.

"Because now they're going to have nightmares; especially when they get you as a teacher!" Fred exclaimed.

---

The rest of the night went well, except after they had gotten back home and went to bed; Janie had woken up at three in the morning, claiming that she had had a nightmare. Somehow, after she had screamed for bloody murder, Janie had gotten both parents to spend the night with her (but in reality, both of their eyelids were so heavy, they didn't care what they did, as long as they got to go back to sleep).

When they woke up, once again without Janie, they found her sprawled across her father's bed, sound asleep. After she was awoken, she disappeared for hours, until right after lunch, when they heard yelling again.

"What is _that_? Umm…Dad, I think you need to exterminate something!" Janie yelled from upstairs.

Severus and Hermione looked at each other. "Exterminate what?" Hermione yelled back up the stairs.

"I dunno; it's big and it's furry…and it has fangs!"

"Fangs?" Severus questioned as Hermione headed for the stairs, Severus following her. "I thought I got rid of everything; I even put up charms on the house…" He said, as they reached Janie's room, only to find her not in it.

"Janie, where are you?" Hermione called out.

"In your room…it's starting to uncoil its tail, Dad!" Janie warned.

"Why do I always have to get rid of everything?" Severus questioned.

"I thought we already went over that on Halloween; you're a man and we…are women. You're a Potions Master and we are not; you're a-"

"Alright, I get it," he told Hermione, as they entered Hermione's room and saw Janie pointing behind one of Hermione's wardrobes.

"Janie," Severus said. "Get away from there."

Janie quickly jumped away from the dresser and started to slowly inch for the door. When her parents both looked in at either side of the object, they became slightly worried.

Looking up at his daughter, Severus questioned, "Where did it go?"

SLAM!

"Janie!" Hermione exclaimed, after Janie slammed the door, shutting them both inside.

_That girl does not know how to shut doors_, Severus commented to himself, as Hermione ran up to the door, only to find it locked; she looked back to Severus, who was standing with slightly wide eyes and an amused expression on his face.

"You know," he said. "I'm starting to think that she did all this on purpose."

Hermione stared back at him, with a look that clearly said, 'You think?'

"I'm starting to think that our daughter was placed in the wrong house," Hermione said, now staring at the door. "How'd she lock the doors anyways?"

"She couldn't have; she knows better…only the house elves-" he stopped and walked over to her fireplace and stuck his hand into the pot of floo powder, only to lower his head.

"You don't…have any…floo powder," he stated slowly.

"No…but you have a wand," Hermione replied, looking anywhere but at Severus.

"And so do you," he said, pulling his wand out and muttered a spell, pointing the wand at the door knob.

When nothing happened, he muttered the spell again and then a different spell; still nothing. Sighing, he turned to Hermione, "Do you want to try?"

"Uhh…actually, I don't really have my wand on me…" she replied sheepishly.

"What do you mean; you don't have your wand? It's your room that we're in," he replied.

"I left it in the kitchen," she mumbled, refusing to look at his face.

Severus leaned his head against the large window, which was next to the wardrobe, only to bring it back up a few moments later to snap his fingers and call out one of his house elf's names.

"Yes sir?" Halo asked, right after she had appeared.

"Open the door," Snape commanded.

"I'm sorry Master…I cannot," the house elf replied hesitantly.

"What do you mean, 'you can't?'" Hermione blurted out, before Severus could even say anything.

"Mistress Janie has ordered all of us house elves not to let ma'am or Master Snape out, until Mistress Janie says so."

"She's twelve years old, for Merlin's sake!" Severus exclaimed, getting aggravated.

"Yes sir, but she is our Mistress-"

"And _I am _your Master, who is ordering you to open…the _door_," Snape thundered.

"Halo is very sorry sir, but cannot; Mistress Janie has threatened to free us all if we let you out," Halo said, cowering under Snape's scrutinizing glare.

_I've tired that a _million_ times already and they go ahead and listen to my twelve-year old daughter_!" Snape thought.

"Halo is very sorry, sir…and ma'am, but the door cannot be opened and Halo is cooking Mistress a snack," and with a snap of her small fingers, Halo disappeared.

"This is unbelievable! What possessed her to do something like this?" Severus asked, turning partially around, to look at Hermione.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but we're both probably thinking the same thing," Hermione replied, thinking about something and then stifled a small laugh.

He raised an eyebrow, "And your problem is?"

"You're you again…"

"Me again?" He questioned, feeling thoroughly left out of something.

She nodded, "You were so…_nice _these passed two days…well, actually decent at the Burrow and now, seeing you angry and frustrated with the house elves and Janie, makes me almost…smile…"

"You're happy that I'm angry," he stated, more than asked.

"Yes, actually…I am," she replied, smiling.

---

"Cosmo, could you please bring up food, for my parents, when I go upstairs?" Janie asked.

"Yes ma'am," the house elf replied and then disappeared with a 'pop.'

When the house elves had dinner ready, they followed Janie up the stairs, while she knocked on her mother's door.

"Janie?" Her mother called out, getting a not-so-happy remark from her father.

"Yes?" Janie asked, unsure if she should have spoken or not.

"Janie, unlock the door," Severus said.

Janie closed her eyes, "I can't-"

"Janie…unlock the door, _now_," he said, but more forcefully this time.

"No," she stated simply.

"Please?" Her mother said, since she didn't want Severus to talk, because with his anger rising, he'd only make things worse.

"Sorry Mum; I can't-"

"So help me Janie-"

"Severus, don't talk," Hermione said.

"What do you mean, 'don't tal-"

"Shush," Hermione said.

"Don't tell me to shu-"  
"Shut-up Severus, or I'll lock you in the bathroom," Hermione threatened.

"You don't have a wand," he retorted, rather childishly.

"But I have a door and furniture…I don't need a lock," she bit back.

After it become suddenly quiet, Janie took it as her cue to start talking again.

"As I was saying," Janie said, pausing after she had heard a groan, from the other side of the door. "I can't…won't let you out, until you _both_ realize how stubborn you're being," she stated simply.

"We are not stubborn-"

"There you go!" Janie exclaimed.

"Just because we're stubborn, doesn't mean that you have to lock us in a room togeth-" Hermione stopped when she realized the word she was going to say and knew that Janie was wearing a big, goofy grin on the other side of the door.

"What was that, Mum?" Janie asked, pointing at her ear.

"I believe you said the word, 'together,' which by the way, doesn't really define you two," Janie said. "You look up the word 'together' in the dictionary and under the antonym, it lists you two. Now, I know you're both probably _really_ tired of me doing this and if you look up the definition of 'annoying,' my name will be there, but _nothing's_ working! Harry and I at least thought that making you two live together would be enough-"

"Janie, could you please just let us out?" Hermione asked.

"That's the point, Mum! You're both so eager to get out of the room – it's like you both can only be around each other for so long – you're…you're like a pair of divorced parents, who have a fling with each other every so often; _normal_ parents go out together, live in the same house – the same bedroom…they even share their work together. You know, when I see you out in the hallways together, you act like you're just colleagues – you didn't do that before Halloween; what happened when you used to act like 'friends?'" Janie asked.

_Well, we blew that – twice_," Hermione thought.

"Are we not in the same house now, or the same room, for that matter?" Severus asked.

"Yes, but-"

"Janie, you're never over enough at Hogwarts, to know what we do in our spare time," he continued.

"But I know things, because I've seen them here; how you two usually don't have huge fights, because of the way that Mum left that night, or how, in the morning, I have to run around upstairs, just to find both of you-"

"And we do go out," Hermione interrupted her. "How do you think McGonagall hasn't driven your father crazy yet? She can't even find him anymore," she said.

"But then why can't you-"

"Both act 'normal,' as you put it, around each other in the corridors?"

Janie remained silent.

"Do you want to know why we can't do that?" Hermione asked.

"'_Can't?_'" Janie echoed.

"We can't, because we aren't allowed to…especially while one of your professors is around-" Severus began, but Hermione cut him off, to add something in.

"But it was your fault," Hermione admitted.

"_My_ fault? You're the one who ran down the hall and pissed her off," Severus said.

Janie covered her mouth; sure she had heard her mother curse loads of times, but her father…

"She pissed _me_ off – the nerve of her. Besides, you're the one who made her mad in the first place-"

"I _always_ make her mad; you can say that it's a hobby of mine," he said.

"Well, your hobby has gotten us into trouble," Hermione said smiling.

"_Me_? _I_ got us in trouble? No, no, no Hermione, _you_ go us into trouble…especially the second time; you're the reason we can't touch each other in the corridors-" he stopped and Hermione's jaw hit the floor. "_That_ came out the wrong way," he said slowly, a blush threatening to creep up his neck.

"Really?" Hermione asked sarcastically. "Because I'm not the only one at fault here, Severus; you kissed me back-"

"Janie, are you still outside the door?" Severus interrupted.

"Sorry guys, but I'm still not letting you two out," Janie said. "The house elves have made you dinner and please excuse me – I promised to floo Lyss and Matt after Christmas," Janie said and quickly made her way down the stairs, making sure that she was loud enough for her parents to know that she really was gone.

"That certainly took guts," Severus said, after several moments.

Hermione shot him a questioning glance.

"Not many people would stand up to me like that…"

"You're her father Severus, not her Potions Professor; and she'll do that during class too," Hermione said as two house elves appeared with their dinner and a bag of Severus's things.

----Later that night---

"Severus, what time is it?" Hermione asked awhile later, not looking up from her book.

"How should I know?" He asked stiffly, due to their recent argument about 'who was more stubborn.'

"There's a clock next to you-"

"Nearly nine-thirty," he replied.

"What?" Hermione jumped off of the bed and shut her book.

Severus raised his eyebrow and remarked rather dryly, "What, do you have a date that I don't know about?"

"I have to get ready for bed; I'm meeting Ginny early tomorrow…"

"And what makes you think our _darling_ daughter will let us out?" He asked, flipping over a page in the book that he was looking through.

"I don't…I'll be out in a little bit," she said, grabbing her clothes and shutting herself inside the bathroom.

"And before I forget," she said, poking her head out of the door. "There's chocolate in the top drawer next to you – if you want any."

Severus glanced at the bedside table and continued reading, until what seemed like forever passed. Looking up form his book, Severus noticed that Hermione still hadn't emerged from the bathroom and it had been awhile since Janie had brought them dinner. Glancing at the clock, he had noticed that Hermione had been gone for nearly thirty-five minutes and that he was starting to get hungry again.

Carefully placing his book on the bedside table, Severus opened the top drawer and found a long box of Honeydukes's Assorted Chocolates and pulled it out. Right as he started to shut the drawer, a leather-bound object had caught his eye. Pulling out the object, which looked exactly like a book, he flipped it over and found a message engraved in gold writing:

"_My boundaries closed; tight and sealed,_

_Away from meddling fingers_.

_Should you open up and see_

_The wonders of my thinker_,

_Such a lucky soul you are_,

_To have in such a trust_

_For the wards are set to you and her_

_And only no one else_."

Turning the diary back over, he read the title: _Hermione J_. _Granger_: _Hogwarts…Years 1-7_.

With his curiosity peaking, Severus gently tried to open the book and immediately wished he hadn't, for the book's lock started to glow a bright white color, but as almost as fast as it had started, it stopped. Sighing in relief that it didn't hex him, he went to put it back into the drawer, when it clicked open.

_Strange_, Severus thought. _I don't think she would have told me about the chocolates, if this was in there…and that I could open it…_

He opened the book and turned it, so that all the pages feel freely towards the front cover, a slip of paper slipping out and falling to the floor.

_How could I get it open in the first place?_ Severus thought to himself, still moving the book back and forth. _It's not like she has changed the wards recently – she probably hasn't even touched this in years, judging by the dust in her later years at Hogwarts_, he thought and then an idea struck him. _What if she had _wanted _me to find it…back during her time at Hogwarts_...He stopped flipping the pages when his eyes immediately fell upon his own name.

_I can't believe those two again; Harry and Ron are _still _going on about Professor Snape_._ Last year, they thought (well, I did too), that he was out to get the Sorcerer's Stone – with the dog bite and all…but they're still rambling on about him! It's either they're always complaining about the amount of homework he gives, the grades they receive, or they're always calling him a "greasy git" or "the bat of the dungeons;" Ron even swore he was a vampire for some time_. _But really, I don't know why they complain so much – his speech during our first lesson had captivated me and made me want to learn all I could about Potions; it seems really fascinating. Professor Snape had also made it painfully clear on that day what he expected from us, but of course, they probably weren't listening again; if they had been (by some miracle…), then they would have known that he seems like a really good teacher – in his own…way, that is_._ Ugg, Harry and Ron need my help _once again; _I really don't mind helping them, but they don't even try! One day, I was explaining to them how to format their one essay and when I looked back up, they were under the window, playing chess! I swear, all they have to hear is the word "essay" and "Snape" in the same sentence and they freak out_. _Well, I have to go now, before the troublesome two come over and ask what I'm doing; no doubt that Ron will try to take my diary – he's been dying to see what I've written about him._

_Sincerely,_

_Hermione J_. _Granger_

For one thing, Severus was shocked on how she had spoken about him, back in her second year and then what her thoughts had been about potions. Pushing the new information to the back of his mind, he quickly flipped through the rest of her second year and then briefly stopped during her third year.

I'm_ what Longbottom's boggart turns into? That's rather disturbing…no wonder why he always hid behind Hermione during class…_

Flipping through a considerable amount of pages, he stopped shortly on the entry that included the night that Sirius Black was set free by Harry and Hermione and then decided to skip her fourth and fifth years, because he had already known and really didn't feel like hearing about the tournament or the Ministry ordeal again. As he was flipping through her sixth year, many pages slipped through his fingers and they stopped right on an entry dated during the month of March, during her seventh year. Upon the page, there were several scattered tear stains that blurred many words upon the page and when he put the date and them together, he knew exactly why.

_I can't do it anymore…how could I? How I could I keep going on like this? It's crazy! NEWTS are seriously right around the corner and Harry and Ron are up on the suspicion that I'm hiding something from them and for once, they're actually right_._ With them mad at me, the piles of coursework, the constant morning sickness, and Snape not even looking at me, I can't wait until the Spring holidays…I swear…no work, no studying, and I'm going to have to tell Harry and Ron_ _what I've been dreading telling anybody_; _especially after Snape had found out…that was horrible – it wasn't supposed to happen that way_. _But what am I going to do? I want to tell him so badly…I can't stand how he looks at me through the corners of his eyes during class and that he thinks that I don't notice it_. _It's not fair to him and I really don't want to do this alone…I just wish that there was an easier way to tell him! I don't care if Harry and Ron are upset with me…they'll eventually get over it_. _But I don't know what to do anymore…I even went as far as making a list of all the reasons to tell him and why not to tell him and so far, the good outweighs all the bad… But if I do tell him, then undoubtedly Dumbledore would find out and then the rest of the staff, Snape would be fired, which would compromise his position as a spy and then what if Voldemort would find out…I don't even want to think about what he would do to him… I just really wish that there could be an easier way_. _But…what if he doesn't want it? What if I tell him and he never wants to speak to me again? Ugg, I _hate_ these hormones! I start on one thing and I keep ranting on and on about them…I bet I'm going to kick myself when I read this later_. _But now that the rant is over, I really hope that one day- _

Snape stopped, for he heard Hermione moving around inside the bathroom. Quickly shutting the book and locking it, he put it back in the drawer and then heard Hermione's voice.

"Severus, could you please start a fire?" She asked, as he spotted an old piece of parchment on the floor.

"What?" He replied, picking up the parchment and reading the title, "_The List_."

"For my hair; I have nothing to dry it with," she said as he hurriedly opened the diary back up and stuck the piece of parchment back inside of it, briefly wondering if that was the list that she had mentioned about in her diary entry.

"Use a towel," Severus called back, putting the diary back into the drawer and put one last piece of candy in his mouth, before quickly putting the box of candy back into drawer and shutting it.

The moment after Severus heard Hermione emit an exasperated sigh, the door opened and a cloud of steam came billowing out, followed by Hermione. Upon seeing his raised eyebrow, she questioned him, "What?"

"Did you enjoy your sauna?"

Hermione glanced back at the foggy bathroom, "Did I ever tell you that I love all the showers her? They seem to never run out of hot water…"

"If you run out of hot water at Hogwarts, then you take too long," he replied, not looking up from what he was reading.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at his and started rummaging through one of her drawers.

"Ah-ha; I knew I had them," she said, pulling out a box of matches.

"Matches?" He asked, but instead of getting a response from Hermione, their cat jumped onto the bed and meowed thoughtfully at him.

"Yes, and don't roll your eyes at that cat, Severus; he likes you more than anybody in this house," Hermione replied. "Anyways, I brought the matches along, because I might run across a potion that needs a non-magical ignited fire for it to brew correctly," she explained, while striking a match and lighting a fire.

He silently watched as Hermione started to dry her hair and then looked at the clock; it was already passed ten-twenty.

Hermione turned around to look at him, when she heard his feet hit the floor, "Where are you going?" She asked and then watched him walk over to the door and try to open it, but it was still locked.

"To take a shower," he replied, walking into the bathroom with the bag of his things and shut the door.

---

After he returned back into the room, which hadn't taken nearly as long as it did for Hermione, he walked out, but his bag on a chair, and stood, looking sour.

"What now?" Hermione asked.

"I smell…like a girl; don't you own any other things to take a shower with? And what was with that shampoo; I never saw that in any store before," he said.

Hermione tried to stifle a laugh, "First of all, there wasn't anything girly in the shower, besides the stuff that I have in my cupboard. Secondly, I made that shampoo and your hair _actually_ looks nice; what _do _you use to wash your hair with?"

"There's only one type of wizarding potion that won't set your hair on fir-"

"Alright, so after you use it, how do you tell the shampoo to wash your hair?" Hermione asked.

"Normal-"

"Well _there's_ your problem! You can't say normal; it won't do anything to your hair! Didn't you ever read the directions on the back?"

"It's shampoo! Who has time to read the directions on the back of a bloody shampoo bottle? Yours didn't even have anything written on it!" Severus said.

"I know; I said it was my own creation. I got sick and tired of having to use the wizarding shampoo…it was the same stuff and no one was doing anything to improve it, so I made my own _and_ it won't leave you 'smelling like a girl' as you so thoughtfully put it," Hermione explained. "And, if you want, I can just add a flame retardant potion to it, so none of your students will set your hair on fire…"

"My hair has not been set on fire since Longbottom's cousin left school…"

"That was two years ago; how do you know that he's not married yet-"

"You're not serious, are you?" Severus asked, picking his book up from the side table.

Hermione laughed, "I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure Neville would have told us if he had been married…or at least, engaged. Last thing I heard from him, was that he was going on a trip, to learn about Herbology in the rainforest; I'm not sure which one and that was well over a year ago," Hermione said, as Severus sat on top of the covers and opened his book.

Several minutes passed in silence, at which Severus kept discreetly glancing at Hermione, wondering if he should bring up the diary entry or not. When he had finally made up his mind, he put down his book and turned to Hermione, only to find her sound asleep; her book already set on her side table.

Sighing, Severus got up and turned off the light next to Hermione, so that it wouldn't shine in her face and then walked back over to his side of the bed, sat back down, and continued to read his book.

A short while later, Severus' attention was torn away from the book, when he heard a soft voice, "Severus, why didn't you tell me what happened at the bar?" Hermione asked.

He stared down at the words on the pages, "I didn't want to upset you…"

"Ginny told me what I missed…but how did you find out?" She asked, her voice still not above a whisper.

"You really ought to not leave things that you don't want other people to see, lying out in the open…" he trailed off, marking a page in his book and put in on the table next to him.

"It wasn't in clear daylight," she said. "I had it tucked away."

"One of them wasn't and after I read it, I found more-"

"So you went through my things-"

"So you thought only Ms. Weasley could help you," he said, turning his light off.

"I didn't mean that," she said meaningfully. "If you-"

"Had known, then I would have never let you go," he replied, cutting her off, while climbing under the covers.

"I'm sorry that I went; for making you come…" she said.

Instead of replying and making Hermione explode into another frenzy, he settled with a quick end-of-discussion phrase, "Goodnight, Hermione."

Hermione laid there, with her mouth open, before replying with a sincere, "Thank you."

_This is _still_ not over yet_; _I want to know what really happened – not just what Ginny told me…and it has to come from you_, Hermione thought, before drifting off to sleep.

When Hermione awoke the next morning, her eyes were met with the sight of her alarm clock; she had over slept.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed and bolted straight up, looking right at the door.

"What?" Came a very drowsy voice from next to her.

"I over slept!" Se exclaimed.

"The door's probably not open anyways, so why even bother?" He asked, turning his back to her.

Hermione glared at him and then got up to check if the door had been unlocked yet. To her great surprise, as she turned the door's handle, the door clicked open.

"Severus-"

"What?" He asked irritably.

"The door's open," she said quietly, making him spring out of bed.

"That girl," he grumbled, as he passed Hermione and walked out into the hallway.

"And where are you going?" Hermione asked him.

"To go and wake our pleasant daughter up," he said, walking to her room and stopping at the door.

"What?" Hermione asked, almost running into him.

"She's in the library," he replied, reading a note that Janie had left on the door.

Hermione followed him up towards the library and almost ran into him again, when he suddenly stopped short of the library.

"You know Severus; you're acting like being stuck in a room together wasn't one of the things that someone would look forwar-"

"Sshh-"

Hermione looked appalled, "Don't tell me to shush!"

"I hear voices," he said slowly, continuing to the doors.

"Voices?" Hermione echoed, running up behind him. "She's probably just goofing around with her stuff – commentating a Quidditch match, or something like that," Hermione said.

"No, they're other voices – a boy's voice…that girl had better not have brought a boy into this house without asking first," he said, opening the library's doors.

"Severus-" Hermione said, as he walked into the library.

"Janie," her father called, completely unaware of whom the other people in the room were.

"Uh-oh," a male's voice whispered.

"Hi Dad," Janie said cheerfully, while the three other heads turned towards the doorway. "I've seen that you've gotten out – you know, I unlocked the door last night," she informed him.

As soon as the three guests' attention was shifted onto the two unexpected visitors, their mouths almost hit the floor; there stood their feared Potions Master, wearing only his pajamas, which were not completely black. As soon as Snape's brain registered who was in the room and what he was wearing, a light blush started to creep up onto his neck.

_Great, just great_, he thought, knowing that he couldn't just turn around and leave, while everybody's eyes were on him.

"Hey Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, breaking away the three's attention from Severus, whose anger had well-surpassed the "tolerant" level now.

"Hey Lyss and Matt; Janie didn't tell me that you were coming over," Hermione continued, as Severus left the room, the sound of a door slamming moments later.

"Janie," Lyss said. "You told us that your parents said it was okay," she said, leaning in closer to her friend's ear. "Especially your dad…"

"Is it still alright?" Matt asked, looking at Hermione.

"Sure," she replied, turning back to Ginny, who had gotten up to stand next to her.

"Hey Ginny; I'm really sorry that I couldn't make it this mor-"

Ginny held up a hand, "It's alright; Janie told me what happened – I can't believe that she had the guts to do that…what did Snape say?"

"He had actually taken it a lot better than I had originally expected. When she first did it though, I thought that he was going to knock the door down," Hermione said, as Ginny discreetly pointed at Snape, who had returned through the door.

"Speaking of Snape, he looks better than Harry!" Ginny said.

"What, is Harry sick or something?" Hermione asked, confused on Ginny's meaning.

"No, not like that!"

"Ginny!" Hermione reprimanded.

"What? He does! Have you ever seen Harry – or Ron for that matter? They've got nothing on him! I mean – no wonder why he doesn't want the students to ever see him in a t-shirt; hey, did you ever see him in a t-shirt at Hogwarts?" Ginny asked, as Severus approached them.

"_Ginny_!" Hermione blurted out.

"What – oh, hi Professor!" Ginny greeted, as he came up next to Hermione.

"Ms. Weasley," Severus replied politely, with a nod.

"Nice pajamas, by the way," she commented to Snape, which made his face darken a little.

"Ginny, what were you saying again?" Hermione asked and Severus crossed his arms.

"Oh, before-"

"Yes, before your opinions," Hermione said.

"Oh, I came over to first, see what happened to you this morning and then to invite you over for New Years Eve, like we did a couple of years ago; everybody can finally make it again," Ginny told her. "Everybody's coming, we're just missing you three-"

"Three?" Severus repeated.

"Yes; you, Janie, and Hermione are all invited," Ginny said.

"Of course we can come," she said, but as Severus went to object, she continued right on. "There's a staff party that we have to go to first, but we're trying to find a way to get out early, before any of the other professors become 'to drunk to walk,' as Severus had put it," Hermione said.

"If you want, you can just drop Janie off, before you go to the party," Ginny said.

"Really?" Hermione asked.

Ginny nodded, "Great, it's no problem; really."

Hermione smiled, "Great."

---

It turned out that Janie had decided to disappear to Lyss and Matt's house for the day, mostly to escape her fuming father; Hermione ushered her off and then hid in the library for an hour. Just as she was about to explore one of the sections of the vast library, Severus came in and offered to show her his potions lab, which was down in his cellar. Needless to say, his lab was huge and Hermione quickly found herself down there all day; unbeknownst to Severus, she had made him his own shampoo, created her own label for it, stuck it in his shower, and threw out his old stuff, making sure that the shampoo smelled nothing like a girl.

The next few days quickly passed and New Years Eve was finally here. Janie was sent over to the Burrow several hours early, so that she could help set things up, even though Hermione had no idea what was needed to be done, seeing as it was only New Years Eve.

Before they had left for the staff party, Severus and Hermione thought that it would be a "good idea" (for their own sake), if the rest of the staff didn't find out about their engagement just yet. It was actually Severus's idea to put a concealment charm on the ring, so that she didn't have to take it off; they both really didn't want to be put through another night of questions, Dumbledore's twinkling eyes, and McGonagall's knowing smile.

So, there they stood, in front of two grand oak doors, leading them to a hotel banquet room. For some odd reason, Dumbledore never held the New Years Eve party at Hogwarts, but instead at a different location each year; this year, Paris was the lucky city that Dumbledore had picked. Right before Severus pushed the door open, Hermione turned to him.

"What if somebody does notice?"

"Nobody's going to notice; there's an invisibility charm on it, remember?"

"Yes, but-"

"Hermione, if anybody finds out, then we can just deal with it then; knowing Dumbledore, he probably already suspects something…that man somehow knows _everything_," Severus replied, opening the door, revealing a brightly decorated room.

"Why are we still here?" Hermione asked, a few hours later.

"Because every time we try to leave, Dumbledore stops us," Severus replied wearily, eyeing the Headmaster, who was now joyfully waltzing right up to them.

"Remember," Severus said. "Don't say anything or make eye contact – maybe then he'll go away…"

Hermione tried to hide her smile.

"Ah, Severus, Hermione; how is your evening going so far? I must say that this so far as been one of my favorite parties so far; although I must say that Professor Sinstra is acting rather broody…" Dumbledore paused, taking time to look around the room. "Severus, could I borrow you for a moment?"

Sighing, Severus reluctantly got up and followed the Headmaster out of the room, leaving Hermione all to herself. After looking around the room for several minutes, she got up and went to the drink table, looking over the various bowls and pitchers. Glancing at the bowl of punch, she remembered earlier, when one of the professors had poured a small bottle of firewhiskey into it; it was surprising how childish some of the professors were, especially when they were all gathered together for a party. Deciding to just grab a regular glass and conjure herself up her own drink, she reached for a glass, but bumped into someone instead.

"I'm sorry-"

"It's quite alright," said the very familiar and friendly voice.

"Oh – hi Remus, Happy New Years," she replied, turning around to face the smiling man.

"It's not quite New Years yet," he chuckled. "Are you going over to the Weasley's tonight?"

Hermione smiled, "Yes, Janie's there now; Dumbledore just doesn't get what the word 'goodbye' means – he won't let us leave. You're going over there tonight, right?"

Remus nodded, "Of course; I'm so glad that they're doing this again. Just a warning though; I went over there earlier this week and I overheard Fred and George talking-"

"Oh no," Hermione groaned, running a hand over her face.

He chuckled, "Oh no is right. I heard that not only do they have new products that need to be tested, but they also have created an entire new line of fireworks…"

"Hmm; the fireworks might be worth looking forwards too, but their products…I'd much rather not find out about," Hermione replied.

"How true," Remus replied, as a shadow appeared behind them.

"Hermione," Dumbledore said. "Severus will be right back; he has graciously accepted to run an errand for me…"

"Severus, graciously, and accepted are _never_ used together, especially in the same sentence; are we talking about the same person?" Remus asked, with a warm smile plastered upon his face, making Hermione laugh.

"So Ms. Granger," Dumbledore continued, ignoring Remus' comment. "Did you have a nice Christmas?" He asked, his eyes twinkling.

"Yes, thank you; did you?" She replied.

"Yes; it's such a joyous time of year…this year was an especially good year for gifts, if I do say so myself. Did either of you get anything special? I just so happened to receive an entire bag – twenty-three pairs to be exact, of muggle socks," Dumbledore continued, his eyes sparkling.

"Just the usual," Remus said.

"How about you, Hermione?" The old wizard asked.

Hermione tried to hide her smile, "Best Christmas so far, lots of…_unique_ gifts; I couldn't possibly name them _all_," she said, adding the last part quickly.

"Really now? What would be the most outstanding one?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, for me," Remus started, so that Hermione wouldn't have to answer. "It would have to be my-"

"Albus!" McGonagall called from halfway down the room, waving her hands in the air.

"I'm sorry, but would you both please excuse me?" Dumbledore asked, walking towards his friend. "I'm coming Minerva!" He said, putting his hand up in the air, so that she would see.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, "Saved by the person that I least expected…"

"Any why is that?" Remus asked.

"Because she's the one who usually starts the problems," Hermione said.

Remus nodded, "I guess that's why you're not going to tell them yet, right?"

Hermione nodded.

"Tell them what?" Severus asked, walking up behind Hermione.

"That you and Hermione are getting married and are expecting twins," Remus replied, like it wasn't a big deal; Severus just glared at him.

"Yeah and Professor Sinstra's going to be my Maid of Honor," Hermione replied sarcastically. "It was nothing; what did Dumbledore make you do?" Hermione asked.

"Because we both know that you don't 'graciously accept' anything," Remus added, earning another glare from Severus.

"That man has some nerve," Severus said. "He told me that we could leave if I went upstairs and asked the pool manager if the room was ready yet for their use and of course I agreed; I don't want to be here when Dumbledore…_or _McGonagall for that matter, go swimming."

"You sure?" Remus asked. "I heard that they're looking for an extra couple to help participate in their games that they have planned."

Severus quickly glanced at the old pair of wizards, "Alright Hermione, we're leaving."

Hermione smiled, "Good; I'd hate having to see McGonagall in a bathing suit…oh Merlin, I hope that she doesn't have the guts to weak a bikini…"

Remus cringed, "I'll be scared forever."

"We'll all be," Hermione replied, following Severus to the door, someone catching her eye on the way out.

"I'll see you later tonight, Remus," she said and then turned around and spotted Professor Sinstra.

Looking right and the glaring Professor, who had been watching them from across the room, Hermione smiled and waved to her, by wiggling her fingers. Her smile broadened as the Professor's facial expressions darkened and walked right out the door with Severus, purposely grabbing his hand before completely exiting the room.

---

"Oh good; you're finally here!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, when she saw Severus and Hermione walk into the kitchen.

"Janie," she called. "Your parents are here!"

Several people were heard running and as the pair passed, Janie exclaimed, "Hi Mum; hi Dad!" As she continued to chase Patrick throughout the house, they heard her exclaim, "When I catch you Patrick, be prepared to laugh, because I'm going to tickle you to death!"

"It's so adorable," Mrs. Weasley said, putting her hand on her cheek. "As soon as Patrick got here, you couldn't separate the two; I even think he proposed again, but this time, it was with a chocolate frog card."

"What did Janie say?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"She told him that she was still in school and that her father," Mrs. Weasley said smiling, looking right at Severus, "won't let her see any boys yet; she said that he didn't approve of them. Patrick of course, told her that he would wait until after she was done with school and that he would talk to his uncle-"

"Hey Gwan, guess what!" Patrick exclaimed, suddenly standing before Mrs. Weasley.

"What Patrick?" She asked sweetly.

"Since I can't maw-we Janie, she says that I can be here lil' bwother!" He exclaimed and then looked around for Janie, but when he couldn't find her, he shrugged. "She says that I can be a'wound her mo'we an' she'll teach me things tha' only a sis'er can teach!"

Hermione and Severus looked at each other wearily.

"That's wonderful, Patrick!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"Sure is!" Patrick said and then took off again.

"I love it when they're around each other; you know, Patrick is always asking when Janie and his aunt and uncle are going to come over," Mrs. Weasley informed them, bustling around the room, while putting dishes away. "He made me realize how little we all get to see each other – that includes you too, Severus," she said, pointing her finger at him several times. "I think that we should all get together more often – maybe even once-a-month."

"That would be nice," Hermione commented, almost making Severus die. "A break from the castle and all of its occupants would be awfully nice, every once-in-a-while."

Mrs. Weasley smiled, "I don't blame you one bit. Now, there's an entire living room of people waiting for you and I think that some of them want to ask you something."

---

About half-an-hour after the two had joined in a conversation, Harry and Ron had dragged Hermione upstairs, into the attic, where Fred, George, Ginny, and Lee Jordan were all sitting.

"Hey Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed, after she had looked up and saw her friend standing in the doorway.

"Hey Ginny; Fred, George, Lee," Hermione replied politely, with a smile.

"Hey!" George said.

"Wanna play a game?" Fred asked.

Hermione regarded them with caution and asked wearily, "What kind of game?"

"Truth or dare," George stated.

Hermione shook her head, "No."

"Please?" Ginny asked. "I _really_ don't want to be the only girl here."

"Sorry Ginny, but I'm not doing it."

"C'mon Granger, please?" Lee asked.

"We need you to help test out our new product!" Fred exclaimed.

Hermione pointed at everybody in the room, "And everyone agreed to help them?"

They nodded.

"Please? It's just a mild truth serum; nothing like Veritasurem – some people can even fight it," George said.

"Yeah; it doesn't even really last as long either – just enough for one turn…"

"BUT, if you're like Ron over there-" Fred started.

"Which you're not," George said.

"You won't remember a single thing you said," Fred finished.

"I'm still going to take a pass," Hermione said.

"C'mon Hermione!" Someone yelled.

"No, sorry; last time I played," Hermione stopped to point at Fred. "Fred asked me if 'Snape was a good kisser' and I'm not answering that one again."

Fred looked at her smugly, "You're such a party-pooper."

Hermione smiled, "I like to keep my secrets to myself, thank you."

---

Almost forty-five minutes after their game had started, the dares had become more dangerous and the truths, more personal; Fred and George had been starting to ask questions, when people would yell out chicken, before the were even finished asking. When it was Fred's turn to pick the next victim, poor Ron had no idea what was in store for him.

"Little brother," Fred said in an alarming sweet voice. "Do I have the _perfect_ one for you; truth or dare?"

Ron thought for a moment and then decided to go with a dare; the truths were becoming way to out of hand, "Dare."

"Perfect," Fred said darkly. "Oh and Ronnie? I do believe that you don't have any 'chickens' left and since this _is _the wizarding version of truth and dare; you _have_ to do it," he finished.

"Just say it already," Ron snapped.

"I dare you to kiss Hermione," Fred paused, hoping for the dramatic effect.

"_What_?" Ron asked.

"In front of Snape," Fred added.

"Are you CRAZY?" Ron exclaimed, standing up.

Fred nodded, "Maybe; and it can't be a peck on the check either."

"You're nuts!" Ron cried out. "You want me to kiss Hermione…on the _lips_, in front of…Snape?"

Fred grinned evilly, "That's _exactly_ what you _have _to do."

"You're mental!" Ron said. "I can't do that; he'll…he'll blast me into little pieces!"

"Fred, you've gone way to far this time," Ginny said. "Besides, what if Patrick or Janie sees?"

"George'll make sure of that, won't you George?"

"Geogre?" Fred asked again, after his brother remained silent.

"No, I'm not doing it; it's not fair to the three of them," George replied.

"What?" Fred asked.

"I'm…not…doing it, Fred," George said.

"I'll do it," Lee said, raising his hand.

"What?" Ginny asked. "How could you? How could you do that to Hermione and Snape?"

"Well, for one thing, Weasley, Jr.; Fred knows what he's doing and I, for one, still can't believe that those two are even together in the first place – I'm waiting to see how our dear, old Potions Master reacts to it."

Fed up, Ginny walked over to the door, but before she could leave, Fred stopped her, "And Ginny, _no one_, besides the people in this room, can know about this."

Angry, Ginny glared at them and slammed the door.

---

"No, that's not the problem; the ministry have no idea what they're doing…yet again," Severus said. "They always think they're right, when we know that _anybody_ can do their jobs…"

Hermione listened to Mr. Weasley, Remus, Bill, Charlie, and Severus talk about the new, and of course, ridiculious thing that the ministry had done, when she felt someone sit next to her.

"Hey Ginny," Hermione greeted. "Is the game finished yet?"

Ginny shook her head, "No, it was getting to out-of-hand, so I left."

"Hermione listened to Mr. Weasley, Remus, Bill, Charlie, and Severus talk about the new, and of course, ridiculious thing that the ministry had done, when she felt someone sit next to her.

"Hey Ginny," Hermione greeted. "Is the game finished yet?"

Ginny shook her head, "No, it was getting to out-of-hand, so I left."

"_You _thought something was out-of-hand? Was it a truth or a dare?" Hermione asked.

"It was a combination of both, but a dare was what pushed everything to far," Ginny told her.

"Were they asking inappropriate questions again?" Hermione asked.

"They asked Harry if-"

"'Inappropriate questions?' What inappropriate questions?" Mr. Weasley asked, confused.

"Oh," Ginny said, a smile lighting up her face. "Your look-a-like sons are testing out one of their new products, by playing truth or dare again."

"What kind of questions were they asking?" He asked his daughter.

"Personal," Ginny announced happily.

Mr. Weasley stood up, "How many times do I have to tell them no?" He said, walking towards the stairs. "And George is a father!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms up and marching straight up the stairs.

"Some things never change," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Although I'd rather wish they did," Remus commented, making Hermione chuckle.

Fifteen minutes later, Fred and George had most of the adults gathered in their parent's living room. Not only was everyone confused, but the trickery twins were holding a blackboard and a stand…and were grinning.

"Alright," Fred said.

"It's time to play a game," George said, earning many groans to echo throughout the room.

"Oh c'mon – it's not that bad; you can even make money!" Fred exclaimed.

"What have I told you boys about gambling?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"That we'll blow all our money and if we do that, then we're not allowed to mooch off of our parents," George said.

"Except for Katie and Patrick, because George was the stupid one who decided to do it in the first place," Fred threw in, earning a glare from his brother. "Besides the point, it's not _really_ gambling," George said.

"It's betting!"

"That's the _same thing_!" Ginny exclaimed.

"You might think it is-"

"But it's not," George said, making half of the room roll their eyes.

"Will you two please stop finishing each other's sentences; it's really quite annoying," Ron said irritably, crossing his arms over his chest.

"At least we finish _something_," Fred said, referring to Ron's dare, which made him turn a bright shade of pink.

"Alright," Mr. Weasley said, motioning for them to continue with his hand. "Let's hear it."

"Alright!" The twins exclaimed in unison and then in a flash, they had their board set up.

"We usually do this, just amongst our siblings…and Harry, Ron, and Hermione," George started.

"But, we've decided that it would be great if we have everyone participate this year!" George said. "Now, I know a few of us already know how to play, but for some of you older people-"

Fred coughed twice, except that they sounded an awful lot like "Mum" and "Dad."

George grinned, "You might not know. The game is that anybody can make a statement…like people do at weddings and baby showers and then other people bet on what they think will happen. After you bet, the statement and the bets will go on the board and they're charmed to stay, until the statements are fulfilled."

A moment of silent passed, when Mr. Weasley realized that he was supposed to speak. "Fine," he stated.

"Yes!" The double trouble duo said together and high-fived each other.

After many questions were asked, their subjects were finally starting to get to Hogwarts.

"Who do you think will retire next at Hogwarts?" Mr. Weasley asked. "And no; Remus, Severus, and Hermione cannot answer this."

"Flitwick, because we all know how attached McGonagall and Dumbledore are to the school," Ginny said.

"What about Sprout?" Ron asked.

"No, she's too attached to her plants," Ginny said. "I still think she's still waiting for Neville to show up one day."

Severus went to open his mouth to comment, but Hermione smacked his knee and sent him a warning look.

"And we all know that Trelawney's not going anywhere," Ginny said. "Unless she 'foresees' something; three galleons on Flitwick."

"Anybody else?" Fred asked.

"Victor's old," George said. "I'll take him."

"That it? Alright, next one," Fred said, tapping his wand on the blackboard and their bets suddenly appeared in what looked like to be chalk.

"I have one," Mrs. Weasley said, waving her hand in the air. "Which child will be the married-"

"Why'd you do that one, Mum?" George asked.

"Of course it will be Janie," Fred said, making Harry inwardly smile, because he knew exactly what Snape would say.

Remus chuckled. "I don't think Severus is going to let any boy near Janie, anytime soon," he said and earned a scowl from Severus.

Hermione opened her mouth to add in her own comment, but anytime she or Severus would open their mouths to speak, someone else had to add in their own comment and bet. Finally, Harry had ended it, by betting that Charlie's kid, Michael, would be the one married first. Things dragged on for a bit, until Fred and George had started to give everyone options to choose from.

"Alright, so who do you think will get together first this year: McGonagall and Dumbledore or Moody and that one girl from the ministry?" Lee Jordan asked.

"Moody and _who_?" Harry asked.

"That one girl from the ministry; oh, I forgot her name…" Lee continued.

"How could anybody go out with Mad-Eye?" Ron blurted out.

"Ronald," Mrs. Weasley scolded. "That wasn't very nice."

"Oi, but you didn't see what we saw," Fred said proudly.

"I don't think I want to know what you saw," Ron said.

"What a dirty mind you have, Ronnie," George said.

Ron sent an ugly glare at his brother.

"Because all we were going to say was how they always watch each other-"

"And McGonagall and Dumbledore? That's just…that's just wrong; they're too old!" Ron said.

"Then I guess you're taking Moody and-"

"No – I'm taking the older ones," Ron said.

"Alright then; suit yourself," George said and then collected everybody's bet.

The next few rounds were rather stupid, with hardly anybody making any bets, except when Bill made a suggestion about Filch and Mr. Norris – then everybody in the room had gotten in on the bet.

"George, this is getting rather boring," Ginny stated.

"Well," Fred said. "We haven't had really any that involved the people in this room…I know!" He exclaimed. "Who gets pregnant first…Hermione or Ginny?" Fred said, looking around the room and smiling, while Ginny and Hermione's faces turned pink and Severus and Harry's faces went extremely pale.

"Fred," Ginny seethed. "That's…not…funny!"  
"No, but it's going to make someone rich!" Fred said.

"Oh, this will be fun," Remus said. "I'll bet five galleons on Hermione-"

"Remus!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Ginny; I'll take Ginny," George said, pulling out a handful of gold.

Ginny turned to her brother, "George, how could you?"

"I'll take Hermione," Fred said.

"This is ridiculous; everybody throwing money all over the place!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Well," Fred said. "You two are the only ones that are…how do I put this nicely…most likely…to…have…children. Besides Hermione, you already have one-"

"This is getting out of ha-" Severus began, but it was to no avail, because everyone kept voicing out their own opinions.

"Ginny," Charlie said. "Although, I'd rather like to believe that she's still my little sister, it's rather hard to picture Hermione and Snape together – I really don't want those images in my head," he finished, getting a rather disgusted look from the four victims.

"Fred, George; look at what you're doing to them – they don't need to be put on the spot like that…But anyways, I'll take Hermione," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Mum!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Sorry dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "But Hermione and Severus have been together a lot longer than you and Harry and they already have Janie…Besides, it's not that I don't want anymore grandchildren, but if I or your father catches you pregnant anytime soon, it'll be too soon. Now, I believe that I have brownies cooking," Mrs. Weasley said and left the room.

"Ronnie, how about you?" George asked.

"_Stop_ calling me 'Ronnie;' my name is _Ron_," he said crossly.

"Aren't you going to bet?" Lee asked.

"Aren't you?" He replied, leaning back in his seat.

"I already did," Lee announced.

"On who?" Ron asked.

"On Hermione," he replied and added more quietly. "Because we all know that she wouldn't mind if she had another one, even though she swore she'd never do it again, but that was only after Janie shot off a powder rocket in her face."

"I remember that," George said. "That was the first time that we ever tested those; Hermione tried to get it away from Janie, so she turned around and popped it right off in her face. I swear, I don't think I'd ever seen her so shocked – except for now," George said, finishing his story.

"Oh; what was that, Mrs. Weasley? You need some help with the brownies? Alright," Hermione said, cupping her hand around her ear.

"I didn't hear anything," Ron said, as Hermione got up from her seat.

"That's because she's a mother and has supersonic hearing," Fred replied, as Hermione walked past.

Seeing his opportunity, Snape jumped up from his seat and quickly walked passed the three, mumbling something about Molly needing help with moving something.

"Apparently, he does too," Ron said.

"No; he's always had it," Fred said. "We should know," he said, motioning between George and himself, which made Remus laugh.

---

"I'm so glad to be out of there," Hermione said, breathing in a sigh of relief.

"Oh my God," Ginny said as she came running in. "How could you three leave us out there?" She asked, dragging Harry in behind her.

"What did they say now?" Mrs. Weasley asked tiredly, not looking up from her brownies.

"Who would get caught doing something inappropriate first," Ginny stated, while Mrs. Weasley dropped her spatula.

"I hope that they've bet on themselves," she said, drying off her hands. "Because whoever did is going to make _a lot_ of money." Mrs. Weasley said, leaving the room; several moments later, a chorus of complaints came from the living room.

"What, no fair!" Fred exclaimed.

"It was all Fred's idea anyways!" George blundered, pointing at his brother.

"I'm the innocent bystander!" Lee said, throwing his arms up in the air.

"'No fair?' 'Fred's idea?' '_Innocent bystander_?' Oh please!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, grabbing Fred and George by their ears.

"Ow!" George yelled.

"Mum, we're too old for this; you're embarrassing us!" Fred shouted, struggling to get free.

"Then _act_ your age; for Merlin's sake! You're both acting like children! And George, you are a _father_!" She exclaimed, dragging the two into the kitchen, Lee following them sullenly.

"That was so embarrassing!" Fred said as his mother released him.

"_Embarrassing_? Don't you _dare_ complain to me about being embarrassed! Do you know how much embarrassment you've three caused in the past fifteen minutes? Do you see the four _adults_ behind me?" Mrs. Weasley said, pointing behind her; her voice reminding Harry and Hermione of the howler that Ron had received in his second year at Hogwarts.

The three solemnly nodded.

"They're in here, because it's too embarrassing to be sitting out there with you three! How would you like it if I asked _you_ those ridiculous questions or which one of you would me most likely to end up in jail? This…has to…stop," Mrs. Weasley seethed.

"Yes mother," the twins grumbled.

"Apologize!" She barked, making over the three jump and walk over to the four to apologize.

After they had grumbled out their apologies, Mrs. Weasley pointed her finger out the kitchen door and the three dragged themselves through and then apologized to everyone else.

"I'm so sorry," Mrs. Weasley said, turning around to face the four. "Sometimes they actually do act their age and other times – it seems like they had never really grown up; especially Fred. I think with George being married now and not being around him all the time anymore, it's really starting to take a toll on him. Anyways, they should be done apologizing now, so you're welcomed to go back out into the room," Molly said, returning to her brownies. "Oh, and remember, before midnight, we have a special outside area set up that's warn and free of snow – it'll be just like summer!"

Hermione nodded and followed out the three back into the room and when they saw Fred and Lee, Ginny laughed; both were seated on a couch, looking very smug.

"Shut up, Ginny," Fred mumbled, but when he saw Harry walk over to Ron and Hermione walk through the door, his eyes lit up.

Getting off the couch, he moved through the room and leaned over to Ron's ear, whispering something that made Ron's face grow a deep read. Smirking, Fred walked up behind Snape, where Lee Jordan was now standing and started up a "casual" conversation.

After several more minutes passed, while Hermione talked to Severus and Harry carried out a conversation with Remus, who was currently sitting in a folding-card chair, Ron had gotten up to cross the room, when a loud "thump" was heard and George yelled that he was alright.

"No Patrick; you have to _stay_ sliding down a banister to do it correctly," Janie said.

"Do it again?" The young boy asked eagerly.

"Yeah, but this time, don't jump off and yell 'catch me!' at your dad," she said.

"I wanna switch," Patrick said, running to the side where Janie had slid down the staircase.

"Alright, but be careful; that side sends you up in the air-"

"AWESOME!" Patrick exclaimed, racing back up the rest of the stairs, running right over his father.

"Yeah Patrick, you don't have to worry about me," George said sarcastically.

"So'wee Dad," Patrick apologized and then climbed onto the railing.

**Meanwhile…**

"Hey Hermione?" Ron asked hesitantly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "There's something that need to tell you-"

"Alright everyone, let's start heading out to the area now," Mrs. Weasley announced to the room, cutting off Ron. "It's almost midnight!"

"Sure Ron, just a moment," Hermione replied and then turned back to Severus, who rolled his eyes. "Alright Ron, what did you need to tell m-" Hermione's words were silenced as Ron pulled her closer and kissed her.

Seeing their brother, Fred's hands went out and grabbed Snape's hands, while Lee grabbed his shoulders. After a quick second of shock on both Severus and Hermione's parts passed, Severus's face turned into one of absolute furry, as Hermione shoved Ron away from her.

"Eww; Ron!" She yelled, wiping her mouth off.

Just as Severus freed himself of the other's grasp, which included knocking Fred onto the floor, he announced in a very deadly tone, "Weasley, you're a dead ma-"

However, lucky for Ron, Snape didn't get the chance to finish his threat, or get to Ron, because as soon as Fred was on his two feet again, just as Janie had warned, Patrick came flying though the air and knocked Fred square between the shoulder blades.

Unable to keep his balance, Fred toppled onto Snape, who grabbed Hermione's arm for support, before she flipped over. On her way down, she grabbed Harry's foot and in a desperate attempt to stay up on his feet, Harry tried to get a hold of Ron, but instead, knocked him over onto Remus. That proved to be the wrong move, because Ron landed right in Remus' lap, making the chair fly out from underneath the two and then slammed into the bag of the Weasley twin's fireworks, labeled, "Loud bands and booms" – right into the fireplace.

Suddenly, an ear-shattering "BOOM" filled the house and the smoke that spread throughout the room was too thick to cut it with a knife.

"Aw man," Janie said, when she turned around and looked out at the mess, but nobody heard her, for only Patrick's voice, who had some how ended up on the top of the pile of human dominoes, was now echoing throughout the room.

"That was _so cool_! Let's do that again!" He exclaimed joyously, throwing his hands up above his head.

Many groans were heard around the room, until the clock chimed midnight and the smoke started to finally clear from the surrounding areas.

"Happy New Year-" Someone began, but was cut off by Fred's voice.

"Oh…that's just _disgusting_," he informed everybody.

"What is?" Harry called out through the pile.

"Whoever bet on Hermione for getting caught doing something inappropriate first, yeah, you win; I don't know how snogging Snape isn't 'inappropriate.' And, whoever bet on Snape, you win too; snogging Hermione back is really just as bad…"

"It's the New Year," Hermione replied. "It's good luck to be kissed at midnight-"

"You could have waited…" Fred said. "And not start again!"

"Shut up, Mr. Weasley," Snape said.

"You're only saying that, because you're enjoyi-"

"Shut up, the both of you," Remus said, getting up, after Ron had finally managed to get up.

"You're just happy that you won the bet," Bill said.

"What bet?" Hermione asked, earning an agitated growl from Severus.

"Remus bet that Severus would be the first one to get caught doing something inappropriate first; of course, he did it as kind-of a joke – we never really would have thought that he would have won," Mr. Weasley said, from his position on the couch.

"Yeah, most of us bet on Ginny," Fred said.

"Hey!" Ginny exclaimed in Harry's ear, after helping him up.

"You weren't the only one; Hermione was voted on a couple of times…" Lee started.

"You guys really know how to-"

"But then we changed our votes over to Ginny, except George, who stayed with Hermione. Lucky two though; they made a bloody bundle!" Fred said, finally able to finish, without Ginny interrupting him.

"You guys are truly unbelievable," Ginny said, when everybody was finally on their own two feet again and straightening out their clothes.

"It worded," George said, with a big, goofy grin on his face.

"What worked?" Mrs. Weasley asked despairingly, having run into the room, after a loud "boom" echoed throughout the house.

"The fireworks! Fred and I have been trying to get them to make an extremely loud sound, without anybody going deaf; I'd say that they worked really well…"

"Kitchen," Mrs. Weasley said in a deadly voice. "_Now_."

Fred started to walk into the kitchen after his mother, but when he looked over his shoulder, he saw Lee trying to inch slowly away from them.

"Oh no you don't; you were in on this too," Fred said, grabbing Lee's sleeve and tugging him into the kitchen.

"Hey!" Ginny exclaimed. "The fireworks are still going off!" She said and raced to the outside area, where the planned fireworks were still exploding in an amazing array of colors.

While everyone was watching the display, Mrs. Weasley walked up behind Severus and Hermione, "Would you mind if I ask you two a question?" She asked kindly.

They both turned around and Hermione replied, "No problem."

"We were going to do what we did the last time we got together for New Years; would that be alright?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Hermione glanced at Severus, "Sure."

"Splendid!" Mrs. Weasley said, clasping her hands together and then bustled away.

Severus looked at her cautiously, "What did you just agree to?"

"Oh," Hermione said. "_Usually_, she somehow gets _everybody_ to spend the ni-"

"No," he stated, as Janie walked up to him and smiled at him.

"Dad?" She asked, playing her "cute and innocent" card.

"What?" He asked, looking down at his daughter.

"Please?" Hermione asked. "It's just one night; we probably won't see anybody else again – at least not until after break…"

"I can't see the fireworks," Janie said.

"One second Janie," he said and looked at Hermione's pleading expression and then thought about the prospect of not having to see anybody again for awhile and sighed, "Alright."

"Thank you, Severus," Hermione replied. "Although you should know that I was going to stay anyways."

Rolling his eyes, he turned towards Janie again, "What do you want me to do?"

"Well, seeing as I'm not tall enough…and Patrick's doing it too…"

Severus looked at her skeptically and then looked at where George was now standing, with Patrick on his shoulders; the young boy pointing at the exploding sky.

In one swift movement, Severus had scooped Janie off of the ground and put her on his shoulders.

"Thanks Dad! This is so cool! Look at me; I'm taller than everyone else!" Janie exclaimed happily, throwing her arms up in the air. "It's almost like in that one movie; 'I'm queen of the party!'"

Harry was watching from a distance with Ron standing next to him and when he saw Janie throw up her arms up in the air, he knew that Snape _had_ to be smiling; he just wished that he could see it.

"Wow…I thought that I would never see that…" Ron pondered out loud.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Snape…look at him and Janie; I would have never thought that he – of all people, would do something like that and get that sort of reaction," he tried explaining.

"I guess you have to get used to it…" Harry trailed off.

"Watching them makes me really regret carrying out Fred's dare," Ron said.

"It's in the past, mate," Harry murmured. "I'll be right back."

Harry walked over to where Hermione, Severus, and Janie were standing and tapped Hermione on the shoulder.

"Hey Harry," Hermione said.

"Hey Hermione," Harry replied. "I need to tell you something," he said, as Severus quickly grasped Janie's hands, because she leaned back to far and almost fell off of his shoulders.

"Sure," Hermione replied, as Severus's attention turned to the boy with the raven-black hair, while Janie's attention was still on the colorful sky.

"I just thought that you both should know why something happened tonight, and I'm sorry for bringing it back up; but Fred dared Ron to…do what he did to you…in front of Snape. And it was the wizarding version of the game and well, Ron had no chickens left."

Hermione thought about exclaiming, but thought better of it, "Thank you, Harry."

He smiled, "Just wanted to let you know; Happy New Years, Hermione; Professor. Hey Jaz," Harry called up to the mesmerized little girl, getting her attention. "Happy New Years!"

Janie smiled, "Happy New Years! Hey Uncle Harry, look! I'm actually taller than you for once!"

He smiled, "Just wait; you'll be taller than me, pretty soon."

"No I won't," she said.

"Yes you will; look how tall your father is," Harry replied. "He's taller than me, isn't he?"

Janie looked at her mother, "Yeah, but my mum's not."

"Thanks, Janie," Hermione said.

"Anytime, Mum," Janie said. "Aw cool; look! That fire work was bright green and silver!" Janie pointed out, while Harry walked back to Ron.

The absence of Harry had shifted Hermione's attention back to Severus, who was busy glaring at the back of Fred's head.

"Please don't do or say anything; especially if it's stupid," Hermione said. "Fred's the one acting like a child; he does this every year – the both of them do. Valentine's Day is the worst by far; you _definitely_ don't want to be around them on that day."

The fireworks seemed to never end, especially to Hermione, who was tired, and Severus, who couldn't even feel his shoulders, from having his daughter sitting on them for such a long time. Finally, rockets started shooting into the sky from all over the place and the noise was ear-splitting. Janie's head was twirling all around, trying to look where everything was coming from, while shaking Severus back and forth.

Dozens of white rays were being shot from the sides of the field, while right in the center of the sky, huge, dazzling fireworks were exploding with every color imaginable. As the seconds of the never-ending show were wearing down, several large white fountains of sparks erupted from the ground, while the side cannons shot of alternations between blue and white rays. Right before the magnificent show ended, four huge streams of sparks were sent up into the air; each at different times. Janie's jaw practically hit her father in the head, when each on exploded, and when the last one exploded, she almost fell over. After the ear-shattering boom, which shook the ground and the house, a brilliant white light was seen that lit the sky for several seconds.

"Wow! Is it daylight already? I thought you said it was bedtime!" Patrick exclaimed.

When the light had died down, everybody was utterly quiet, except for Janie.

"Woah…" she said, wiping her eyes with her fists. "Thanks Dad, for letting me see it," she said, her eyes still glued on the smoky sky.

"You're wel-"

"OH MY GODS! YES! YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!" Ginny screamed and the squealed.

Everybody looked around for Ginny, confused at what in the name of Merlin she was yelling about. Their questions were answered however, when she came bounding out of the house, her eyes brightly shining.

"What's going on-"

"Harry proposed!" Ginny squealed in happiness.

Mrs. Weasley went running over to her daughter, "Oh Ginny; I'm so happy for you both! Where's Harry, dear?"

"Aren't you going to ask what I said?" Ginny asked, showing her mother her new engagement ring.

"Oh dear, I'm pretty sure the entire block heard what you said," Mrs. Weasley replied. "This is gorgeous!" Mrs. Weasley said, as Harry came into view. "Harry, dear!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, her arms shooting up over her head, as she ran to go give Harry a hug.

After everybody had given their congratulations and everybody had settled down, Mrs. Weasley finally announced that it was time for bed, which was well passed one-thirty in the morning.

"Alright," Mrs. Weasley called, standing up in the living room. "Seeing as everyone has decided to spend the night, I have taken up the liberty of assigning rooms," many groans were heard around the room at Mrs. Weasley's statement. "Oh, don't complain; I'm doing this so that nobody will be running around like dogs, just to find a room. So with that said, I'd think it'd be best if Bill, Charlie, and Fred stay in Bill's old room; George, Patrick, and Lee in the twins' old rooms, and Ron, Harry, and Michael in Ron's room. Then, we have Ginny, Janie, Hermione, and Katie in Ginny's room, which leaves Severus and Remus to Charlie's old room-"

_Joy_, Severus thought sarcastically.

"What about Fleur?" Bill asked.

"Fleur has volunteered to stay in the study, because she is leaving early tomorrow morning to go out shopping with her mother," Mrs. Weasley explained.

Both Hermione and Ginny looked mildly confused.

"What?" Hermione asked. "But, we're at different ends of the house," she added, referring to their room placements.

Mrs. Weasley smiled, "Completely different parts."

"But-" Hermione started, but Mrs. Weasley cut her off instead.

"Do you want to know why you're all at different ends of the house? Because my house is '_G_' rated," Mrs. Weasley announced.

"_What_?" Ginny asked.

"General audiences _only_," Mrs. Weasley said. "That means that there will be no funky business going on in this house."

"_Funky_ business?" Some one repeated.

"No monkey-ing around, messing around, or in short, _fooling_ around; you _all_ know what I mean," Mrs. Weasley said, pointing her finger around the circle of adults. "And there will be no 'ifs,' 'ands,' or 'buts.' Now, everybody; off to bed!"

---

Fifteen minutes after Mrs. Weasley had sent everyone off to bed, Severus and Remus were currently going over their "do's and don'ts;" Remus of courses, was mostly listening, when there was a knock at the door.

"Whatever you see and whatever might be said in this room, _does not_ leave _this_ room," Severus said, as Remus opened the door.

"Hi Remus," Hermione greeted quietly.

"Hello Hermione; you're not going to get into trouble for being here, are you?" He whispered back.

She shook her head, "Mrs. Weasley hasn't caught on yet."

Remus smiled, "Still sneaking around, are we?"

"Of course; old habits die hard," she smiled, glancing at Severus through the crack in the door, who was currently trying to see around Remus. "He's not giving you too hard of a time, is he?"

Remus laughed. "There's someone at the door for you, Severus," he said and walked away from the door.

After Hermione had quickly entered the room and shut the door, she turned around to find Severus staring at her, his cloak in his hand.

"Merlin, Severus; you look like you're staring at a ghost," she replied smiling.

"How'd you get passed Mrs. Weasley; Weasley tried sneaking down to the kitchen and you would have sworn that a bomb went off," he said blankly.

"Ron's not exactly quiet when it comes around to food," she said and Remus laughed.

"Why are you here anyways?" Severus asked.

Hermione leaned over towards Remus and said quietly, "Boy, he's crabby; good luck with him later."

Remus tried to keep a straight face, while she turned back to Severus, who had his arms crossed and was glaring at her.

"Janie's talking about her year so far at Hogwarts, with Ginny and Katie, and I'd rather not hear about certain parts at the moment," she explained. "But, I guess if you don't want me here now…I'll just go back to my room…"

As Hermione turned around to leave, Severus reached out and gently grabbed her arm, after glancing towards Remus.

"You don't have to leave," he said quietly.

"Severus, we already agreed that what goes on in this room, doesn't leave this roo-"

Remus stopped when somebody started knocking on the door. As soon as the noise was heard, Severus turned around and pushed Hermione into the closet and shut the door, right before Remus let the visitor in.

Mrs. Weasley came in, looking like a hawk and pointed her finger back and forth, between the two adults, "Have either of you seen Hermione?"

"No," Remus said.

Mrs. Weasley turned right towards Severus, "Where is she, Severus?"

"I haven't the slightest idea about what you're talking about, Molly," he replied.

Mrs. Weasley stared at the two, with her hands firmly on her hips.

"Really Molly; if either one of us sees her, we'll let you know right away," Remus said.

She eyed the two carefully, "You two are both acting _awfully _suspicious…"

"No we're not; Severus and I have actually…_agreed_ on something," Remus said, wrapping his arm around Severus's shoulder, earning a menacing glare.

"I still don't trust either of you; I _will_ find Hermione," she said.

"Have you tried the bathroom?" Remus asked.

"Yes, but-"

"_All_ of them?" He added.

Mrs. Weasley looked befuddled, "I _will_ find her," she said, leaving the room and then shut the door on her way out.

"Lupin," Severus said dangerously. "Get your arm…off me _now_," he said and Remus quickly withdrew his arm, as Hermione came out of hiding.

"Don't you _ever_ touch me again," he said threateningly.

"Oh; so you don't like this, Severus?" Hermione asked, walking right up behind him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, just as Remus had done.

"Well, it worked," Remus replied smiling. "She left us alone," he added, trying not to laugh from Severus's speechlessness state and priceless expression.

"Too bad though," Hermione said, squeezing his shoulders and then let go, walking to stand next to Remus.

"Well, I can see what you're trying hard not to laugh at, Remus; Severus, the look on your face is irreplaceable! To bad that you don't like people touching you, Severus, because that's the last time that I'm ever going to do it," Hermione said, earning a disapproving look to flash across his eyes.

"So Remus," Hermione said, quickly changing the subject. "How have you been since Christmas? Talk to Tonks at all?"

Twenty minutes later, someone was knocking at their door again, making the three instantly look at each other. Hermione jumped up from her sitting position on one of the beds and ran to hide in the closet again, but her feet got tangled up in the bed sheets and she fell right onto the floor. Once she was safely hidden in the closet, Severus opened the door and was surprised when he didn't see an irate mother Weasley, but instead, a very calm-looking Harry Potter.

Sighing, Severus asked, "What do you want, Potter?"

"Severus, that's not a very nice way to-"

"It's alright Remus, I was actually just looking for Hermione; you two haven't seen her by chance, have you?" Harry asked politely, as he saw the closet door open behind the two Professors, and the corner of Hermione's head pop out. "Mrs. Weasley has been looking for her high and low and her pestering is driving us all up the wall."

"Really? Because Molly hasn't been here in a while," Remus said.

"Really? She's been checking every bathroom in the house-"

"Nice going, Lupin," Severus commented.

"Well, I'll let you both get back to whatever you were doing. Goodnight Professors…"

"Goodnight, Harry," Lupin replied.

"Goodnight, Hermione," Harry said over his shoulder. "Oh, and Professor Lupin, you're welcomed to come up and discuss Quidditch or whatever, with Ron, Michael, and I; there's plenty of room, if you want…"

"She's not her-"

"Goodnight Harry," Hermione called from inside the closet. "Happy New Year," she said, as a smiling Harry walked down the hallway and as Severus shut the door.

Several seconds later, they heard Harry yelling, "No, Mrs. Weasley; Hermione's not in there, and yes, I checked the bathroom."

"That boy is something else," Severus said absentmindedly.

"And we love him for it," Hermione said, stepping out of the closet.

Suddenly, they heard rushed footsteps and Harry's voice, "What's the matter, Mrs. Weasley?"

"The closet; did you check the closet? Fred was just found, hiding in George's closet," she huffed.

"Closet," Harry echoed.

"How did you not check the closet, dear? Oh, she's not getting away with sneaking around under _my_ nose!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, making a beeline for Charlie's old room.

"_Oh shit_!" Hermione exclaimed and apparated to Ginny's room, landing right in her lap.

"Woah, Hermione; where did you come from?" Ginny exclaimed, after she had practically fallen off of her bed.

**Meanwhile…**

"Where is she? Was that a 'pop' I heard?" Mrs. Weasley asked, after rudely throwing her door open, looking at Remus' amused expression.

"I bet-"

"Oh the 'pop?'" Remus asked. "That was Severus, dislocating my shoul-"

"Cadswallip-"

"We were arguing about-"

"I know she was here-"

"I punched him and he grabbed my shoulder-"

_SLAM_!

"Great job Lupin," Severus sneered. "You're a terrible liar, by the way; she probably thinks you're just as bad as the Weasley twins."

Mrs. Weasley huffed her way up the stairs and through the hallways, only to stop at her daughter's door and start knocking.

"Hey Mum," Ginny greeted, after opening the door. "Hermione's ba-"

"There you are!" Mrs. Weasley said, pointing her finger accusingly at Hermione, who was busy pretending to braid Janie's hair. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you; I had to run home-"

"Running to Severus doesn't constitute as running home-"

"To feed our kitten," Hermione finished.

"That should have only taken a minute," Mrs. Weasley countered.

"I had to finish adding ingredients to a potion," Hermione lied.

Mrs. Weasley was quiet for several moments, as in trying to consider something. Finally, a smile started to pull at the corners of her mouth, "You know, Harry told me that he swore that he saw you in that room with Severus and Remus, before I came up here."

"That rat! _Him_, of all people!"

"Ah-ha; so you _were_ in there! I knew that I wasn't going crazy! You know Hermione, you're good, but no one can get away with sneaking around my house, right under my nose," Mrs. Weasley said. "Now, I'm going to make this painfully clear, to all of you, so listen: no one is to leave their rooms, unless it's an emergency. And Hermione, I'm putting Janie in charge of watching; if you try to sneak out again, I'll tell Severus and some choice others about what Ginny got you for Christmas."

Both Ginny and Hermione gasped.

"You-"

"How did you find out?" Ginny exclaimed.

"Do you think you are the only ones who snoop around in this house? Where do you think you get it from?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Mum!"

"Really; you had the gift on the bed and my curiosity had gotten the best of me…"

"That means that _anybody _could have seen it!" Hermione worried.

"But I only left it alone for a minute!" Ginny exclaimed.

"You wouldn't dare," Hermione said.

"The first person that I'd tell would be Severus," she informed them.

"No, Mum; you can't!" Ginny said and then turned to Hermione, "If you can't control your fantasies for one night, then I'm going to tie you to a chair and that's where you're going to sleep."

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, a shocked look across her face.

"Kid in the room!" Janie shouted, covering her ears. "I don't wanna hear that!"

"Now look what you've done; you're going to give the poor girl nightmares," Mrs. Weasley replied. "And I don't really think that Katie wants to hear about this either. Now, let's all be nice little angels and go to bed-"

"What are we, four?" Ginny asked.

Mrs. Weasley smiled sweetly at them and with one last warning about sneaking out, shut the door.

"So, what did Ginny get you?" Katie asked, making Hermione groan and throw her pillow at her.

---

At four-thirty in the morning, right as everyone had finally gone to sleep, an ear-splitting scream echoed throughout the house.

"What is _that_?" Katie screamed, waking everybody else in the room up.

"It's a-"

"RAT!" Ginny screamed.

"They're _mice_," Janie corrected.

"They're _rats_; I HATE RATS!" Ginny screamed, climbing on top of her bed.

"Oh…my…God," Hermione exclaimed, standing on top of her bed and saw that the entire floor was covered in tons of live, white mice and rats.

Looking over her bed, Janie bent down to pick a small mouse up, but her mother had stopped her.

"Janie, don't you _dare_ touch that!" Hermione said.

"What is going on-" Mrs. Weasley asked, throwing the door open and dozens of mice made their mad brake into the hallway.

"Oh Merlin!" She exclaimed, jumping to the side of the door. "How'd they…how'd they get in here?" She asked, pointing at the mice. "Ginny, stop screaming already; Scabbers was a-"

"_Pet_ rat! These are _real_, _wild_, _disease-carrying RATS_!"

"Hey Ginny?" Janie called.

"Wha-" The rest of Ginny's sentence was replaced with a scream, because Janie had picked up one of the furry creatures and threw it at her.

As Ginny ran from the room, she caused all the rodents to scatter throughout the room and for half of them to follow her out the door. Unluckily for Ginny, they made a left with her, because Mrs. Weasley was still blocking off the other hallway, trying to come to terms on how a hundred or so rodents were now running free throughout her house.

"Oh my God; they're chasing me!" Ginny exclaimed, trying to get away from the scurrying, little creatures.

"Hey Mum," Janie said, and as Hermione turned around, Janie threw a mouse at her; Hermione tried to bat it away from her, before running out the door, but it only ended up hitting Katie in the head.

"It's in my hair!" Katie shouted, swatting at her hair wildly and sending the poor, defenseless, little mouse through the air.

After the mouse had gone flying through the air, Katie had also gotten up and fled from the rodent-infested room. Little did she know, the rest of the white sea of rats and mice followed her on her way out.

"Girls!" Mrs. Weasley called. "You're going to wake everybody in the house up!"

Janie soon passed Mrs. Weasley, holding a small mouse, "Come back; it was only a joke! You know, they're even kind-of cute!"

---

"What's that screaming?" Fred asked, standing next to George.

"I don't kno-" George paused. "Uh-oh…"

"What?"

"That prank we set up earlier-"

"The rats are _chasing _me!" Ginny shouted, rounding the corner by the twins.

The door opened next to Fred and George and Bill's head popped out, "What is going _on_?" He asked, as Ginny ran passed him, her arms flailing through the air.

"Mice?" Bill asked, as a dozen mice ran through his open legs and into his old room, after Ginny had passed.

"What the…_RATS_!" Charlie yelled from inside the room.

"You deal with _dragons_!" Bill exclaimed.

"But I have a phobia of rats! How did you think Percy got stuck with that bloody rat in the first place?" He asked, running from the room, but tripped and knocked into his old room's door.

As if almost on cue, Severus flung the door open, "What the _hell_ is going on ou-"

He stopped however, because Hermione ran passed and almost mowed Charlie over in the hallway, who was so tired, he was running like he was completely drunk.

Severus stepped out into the middle of the hallway, "What is going _o_-"

"C'mon, Katie; it was only a joke!" Janie exclaimed and Severus turned around and practically jumped to the wall, seeing as Katie was determined to knock anybody out of the way, just to get away from the tidal wave of rodents that were still following her.

Remus walked out into the hallway, his eyelids still practically glued shut, "Wha's' goin' oh'n?"

But before Remus had even gotten a chance to finish what he was going to ask, Severus was already gone and running down the hallway, stepping in between the mass of rats. Shrugging, Remus retreated back into the room, before the rest of the house came running down the hallway.

Once everybody was outside, Mrs. Weasley let the questions fly, but they were mostly aimed at Fred, George, and Lee, who were laughing hysterically.

"Hey Patrick," Janie said. "Want to pet a mouse?"

Patrick walked over, wearing his cute, blue, little Quidditch pajamas, "My mum says they're bad." He said tiredly, rubbing his eyes with his fist.

"Janie! For Merlin's sake, put that thing down!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Oh; alright, Mum," Janie said, bending down to put the mouse on the ground, but tightened her grasp on the small creature and pretended to throw it at Hermione.

Hermione let out some sort of squeal and turned around, only to hit something soft.

"Janie-"

"Severus!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. "Save me," she said, shielding her face away from the cold.

"I thought you said that you were never going to touch me again," he smirked.

"Shut up; it's not funny," she said. "That was then and this is now; now I need protecting."

"From _mice_?" He asked.

"Shut up," she mumbled.

"Janie, what is going on?" Severus asked, wrapping an arm around Hermione's shoulders.

"Well, Katie woke us up screaming and then there were rats and these cute, little mice _everywhere_. Katie started screaming and then Ginny started yelling, and Mum started freaking out. Then, Mrs. Weasley came in and half of the creepy-crawly creatures ran out of the door, and then I…decided it would be _funny_, if I…threw-a-rat-at-Ginny-and-then-at-Mum," Janie said, saying the last part so quickly that Severus had barely caught it. "Then they ran from the room – both mum, Katie, Ginny, _and_ the rodents."

"Janie," Severus said calmly. "Put the mouse down…_now_."

Janie looked at her father like her kitten did when she would hold a treat above its head; deciding not to disobey him, she set the mouse on the ground and watched it run off into the forest.

"Is everyone out here?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "I know Fred, George, Lee, and Arthur are…"

"I'm here," Ginny said. "Katie's somewhere; probably as far away as she can get from George. Patrick's over there, by Janie, who are both by Hermione and Snape."

"Charlie passed by the couch on his way out here – I never saw him come outside," Bill said. "And Remus; he was too tired to see and went back to bed," he finished, as Ginny walked away.

Mrs. Weasley looked around, "Where are Harry, Ron, and Michael?"

"Still peacefully snoring," Mr. Weasley said. "All three of them; well, they were when I looked in their room when all the commotion was going on…"

"You'd swear that the world could be ending and they'd sleep right through it," Mrs. Weasley shook her head.

"Hey Hermione?" Ginny asked, walking over to the four.

"What?" She mumbled, not even bothering to pick her head up.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah-"

"Good, then don't move," Ginny said, walking over next to her and put her head on her shoulder. "Seeing as my wonderful mother won't let us back into the house until the terrible trio tell her more about their prank, you're going to be my new pillow."

"Lovely," Hermione said sarcastically.

"Wonderful; I've graduated from a pillow, to a bed," Severus mumbled sarcastically.

"No fair," Janie said. "We're tired too," she said, bringing Patrick over by the three adults. "Ginny, those are my parents; stop hogging them."

"You certainly are your parent's daughter-"

"I thought you're only supposed to say one parent," Janie countered.

"Not in your case," Ginny said. "I'll make a deal with you: I get my best friend and you can have your uncles."

"They're _guys_!" Janie exclaimed, walking over towards Ginny and then jumped on her back.

"JANIE!"

"My ear!" Hermione exclaimed, knocking Ginny in the face, while trying to cover her ear.

"Come here, Patrick," Janie said, somehow managing to get Patrick up on Ginny's shoulders.

"Janie, I sure hope that you don't want your father to put you on his shoulders," Hermione said. "Because it's not happenin-"

"Alright; you can all go back to bed now!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

Hermione's head snapped up, "Yes! Ginny, can you please remove yourself now?"

"Katie!" Ginny called. "Your son's looking for yo-"

"No I'm not!" Patrick exclaimed.

"Yes, he is!" Ginny exclaimed louder, as Hermione, Severus, and Janie walked right passed them.

"Janie, I'll be right up," Hermione told her, at the bottom of the staircase.

Janie turned around, "No you're not; I heard you talking to dad – you didn't want to sleep in that rat-infested room and dad said that he didn't care what you did."

"Thank you, Janie; for letting the entire house know," Severus said.

Mrs. Weasley turned around and looked at them through narrowed eyes. Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but Mrs. Weasley waved her off, "Go, I don't care; just don't let me hear about it again."

---

Not surprisingly, hardly anybody was really up the next morning, until Mrs. Weasley started cooking breakfast. Katie was currently in the kitchen, seated at the table and talking to Bill, while Mrs. Weasley was having a conversation with Remus Lupin, and Mr. Weasley was eating his breakfast at the table.

"So, you finally caved," Remus stated.

"What?" Mrs. Weasley asked, stopping to look up from her bacon.

"Severus and Hermione," he said. "It was quite a shock this morning; I had to do a double-take. How'd they – Hermione manage that one?"

Mrs. Weasley sighed, "Honestly, I was too tired to chase her around the house again; she is still the same headstrong girl that I first met. Besides, I knew they weren't going to do anything; Severus could hardly keep his eyelids open and Hermione was swaying on the spot. Although, I'm still surprised they're not up yet, or even Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said, putting food on several different plates.

"I don't think you'll see Hermione anytime soon; it didn't look like either of them are moving anytime soon. Did Harry get up, during last night's fiasco?"

"No," Mrs. Weasley said. "The three of them probably haven't even moved."

"Then I haven't the slightest idea on why Ginny is still sleeping; is anybody else up yet?" Remus asked.

"Janie and Patrick are busy building a snowman out in front; Janie was actually up early and Patrick wandered down about an hour-or-so ago-"

"Yes! Breakfast!" Ron exclaimed, walking into the kitchen, while rubbing his stomach.

"All you care about is fo-…Oooo; is that bacon?" Harry asked, immediately sitting down at the table.

"Oww," Charlie said, walking into the room, while rubbing the back of his head.

"Tough night on the couch?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"No," Charlie yawned. "As Ron passed, he hit me in the back of the head and said 'get up.'"

Mrs. Weasley turned towards Ron, and glared at him.

"What?" He asked, his mouth currently full of toast.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, for one thing and another…" Mrs. Weasley stopped and turned back to cooking breakfast. "Why is it always _my_ children? You think that you raise them right and then they just go and prove that they didn't learn anything."

"We're not children," Ron said, thankfully without any food in his mouth.

"You're men, right?" Mr. Weasley asked and Ron nodded.

"Not when you eat like that," he commented, pointing at Ron's plate and then to his mouth. "I hope you're glad to know that no matter how old you get, you'll still be our children; especially you Ron."

"Dad, we know you're only saying that, because of how old you are; you're clinging to your children and hoping for more grandchildren," Charlie said, making everybody in the kitchen chuckle, except of course, for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Before anybody could respond, Janie and Patrick walked into the kitchen, both with bright red faces.

"Oh, Janie dear; could you go please wake your parents? And Patrick, could you please wake up your father and Fred?" Mrs. Weasley asked and received two nods in return.

"Race ya'," Patrick said smiling.

"You're on," Janie said and raced him out of the room.

---

After Janie and Patrick raced up the stairs (Janie had let Patrick win), they quietly entered Charlie's old room, and woke up Severus and Hermione, by jumping up and down on their bed. After Hermione had fallen off the bed with a dull "thud," Janie and Patrick ran from the room and found that only Fred was still sleeping. Before Janie could even say anything, Patrick had crawled under one of the beds and pulled out a small, blue ball that was labeled, "Icy Blast." Giving it to Janie, she set it up and after she had shut the door and heard Fred yell, they started running down the hallway, only to knock Hermione over again.

Much to Severus's pleasure, they left shortly after breakfast and didn't see anybody for the rest of break, although on several occasions, he had Hermione talking to Ginny or Harry. Sadly, it was now the Saturday before school started again and Severus was not exactly happy.

"How can he have one on a _Saturday_? I think all of this holiday spirit of his, has finally gone to his head," Severus grumbled, walking towards the teacher's lounge.

"Really Severus, lighten up; it's your birthday and the staff meeting can only last so long. You know, we're lucky that he didn't have the meeting earlier, or on the last day of break. Besides, when we get back, you can have your gift."

"I still don't know why I couldn't have it before," he mumbled.

"Because it's currently not at Hogwarts and before you say it, it's not in a store either," Hermione said, as they reached the door to the staff's only lounge.

"I still don't know why we can't skip the blasted mee-"

"SURPRISE!" Many people yelled, as Hermione pushed the door open.

"Oh my God," Severus said and turned around to leave, while Hermione stood frozen, gawking at all the decorations.

"Oh no you don't Severus," McGonagall said and raced forwards to grab his arm. "You're not leaving yet; I heard that it was your birthday-"

"You told them?" Severus growled at Hermione.

Hermione shook her head, "No…"

"Oh Severus; it's so nice of you to drop by on your birthday!" Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"Dumbledore," Severus hissed and turned to face everybody.

"See, isn't this a nice surprise, Severus? You probably grumbled all the way down here about having a staff meeting on a Saturday, but instead, you get a party!"

Severus leaned in towards Hermione's ear, "Did you know about this?"

"If I did, I would have given you your gift yesterday," she whispered back.

"And as one of my gift to you, you don't have to attend the actual staff meeting tomorrow!" Dumbledore announced.

"_Special_," Severus said sarcastically.

"Where to begin?" Dumbledore asked, rubbing his hands together.

"This is going to be a _long_ day," Severus mumbled.

"On the contrary," Hermione said. "This can prove to be some fun."

---

Several hours later, both Severus and Hermione had lost all hope for getting out of the party before it had gotten dark outside. After Severus had opened every present that he had received, Dumbledore started up with his games again; luckily, this time, there wasn't a pool.

"Who wants to play _Pin-the-Beak-on-the-Hippogriff_?" Dumbledore asked.

"Merlin, I haven't played that game since I was little," Hermione said. "Except it was called _Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey_."

"I wanna play!" Hagrid exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and almost knocked over another table. "It's like pinnin' a beak on ol' Beaky!"

"Anybody else besides Hagrid, Filius, Minerva, Remus, and myself?" Dumbledore asked.

"Go play then," Severus said.

"I don't want to," Hermione replied.

"Why?"

"Because my hand-and-eye coordination is a little…off," Hermione said, making Severus almost snort.

"Your giant friend almost just knocked over another table – and it wasn't because of how big he is," Severus replied.

"Severus, Hermione; do either of you want to play?" Dumbledore asked, giving them a pair of his sparkling, sad, and yet convincing puppy dog eyes.

Severus pushed Hermione forwards, "Go play, so that I don't have to."

Hermione turned around to shoot him a glare and then walked over to the currently child-like Dumbledore.

Watching the game, Severus actually had to bite back a few boughs of laughter; Dumbledore had shockingly been the only one that was able to walk in a straight line and it was clear that McGonagall might have already had her fair share of drinks. Hagrid had somehow managed to place the beak at the completely opposite end of where it should have ended up at, making Dumbledore quickly reach up and swipe it off the paper. Hermione and Remus were the next closest in winning the game, besides Dumbledore, who had almost placed the beak perfectly on the hippogriff.

Hermione, after she was spun, almost collided with the table, but Remus had given her a push in the right direction, and Remus almost gave the hippogriff a party hat, had it not been for Hagrid's exclamations of where to correctly place the pin-on beak. After the game had ended and Dumbledore started up another game, Hermione quickly retreated back to her chair next to Severus, and started up a conversation.

Fifteen minutes later, Hermione walked up to one of the tables, to grab a glass, while McGonagall suddenly appeared right behind her and charmed something into her glass.

"What's this?" Hermione asked, spinning around to face the older Professor.

"Have you ever had a Jager Bomb? I've been drinking them all night; they're excellent!" McGonagall informed her.

_No wonder why she's bombed_, Hermione commented to herself.

"No, I think I'll take a pa-" Hermione started, but McGonagall grabbed her hand and pulled it, so that Hermione's right hand was right in front of her face. As soon as Hermione realized what McGonagall had finally noticed, she downed whatever McGonagall had filled her glass with and refilled it.

"Oh…my…gods! Hermione, is this what I think it is?" McGonagall asked, gaining Severus's attention, who mentally cursed; Hermione just smiled.

"It is! When did this happen? Why didn't anybody tell us? More importantly, how did I not see it?" McGonagall asked, as Dumbledore started walking over and Severus got up to stand next to Hermione.

"This is beautiful!" McGonagall exclaimed, as Hermione quickly downed another glass, as Dumbledore's smile was clearly apparent. "Severus, _you_ picked this out?" She asked, still examining Hermione's hand.

"What's all the commotion about?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes gleaming.

"They're engaged!" McGonagall shouted, throwing her arms around the two, nearly knocking Hermione's drink onto the floor.

After a few moments, several staff members had started gathering around the four and when Dumbledore noticed that McGonagall wasn't going to release the two anytime soon, he had to separate her and stop her from suffocating both Severus and Hermione, at the same time.

"When did this happen?" Dumbledore asked cheerfully, as Hermione downed another drink, but as she went to refill it, Severus grabbed it from her and put in on the table.

"If I have to go through this sober, then so do you," he whispered.

Hermione briefly glared at him, before smiling and giving everyone their answer, "Shortly before Christmas-"

"Why didn't you tell us!" McGonagall exclaimed. "Especially at the New Year's Eve party! If I didn't notice it, then Albus had to have! Well, did you, Albus?" McGonagall asked.

"I didn't see anything," he said.

She eyed the two and then the Headmaster, "Yes you did! Knowing them, they probably put an invisibility charm on the ring – and you can see _through_ invisible things! You've been holding information out on me, all along; the three of you!"

"Four," somebody coughed.

"_Four_? What am I? Chopped liver? I'm always the one who hears about things first!" McGonagall ranted.

"Minerva, you're not the last to know-" Dumbledore started.

"Who doesn't know-"

"Professor Sinstra; would you like me to retrieve her for you?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

"Oh my God, no," Hermione blurted out and then quickly covered her mouth.

Everybody turned to look at Hermione, but Dumbledore was the only one to speak, "What do you mean, Ms. Granger?"

"Well, I sort-of-"

_Oh no_;_ what did you do now_? Severus asked.

_Nothing_; _shut-up_. Hermione retorted, using legilimency.

_Great_; _you can find me at the nearest bar_.

"'Sort-of' what?" McGonagall asked.

"Flashed my ring at her, at the New Year's Eve party," she said.

Severus turned to her, "You did _what_?"

"I'm sorry," Hermione said. "I just don't really care for that woman."

Dumbledore gave her an amused look before finally changing the subject and the staff's attention away from Severus and Hermione.

---

An hour and a half later, Severus was beginning to think that his was the longest party that he had ever been at; maybe it wouldn't have seemed so, if Hermione was there, but she had disappeared fifteen minutes ago.

"Enjoying your party?" Remus asked, sitting down next to Severus, who humpfed in return.

"Where's Hermione?" He asked.

"I have no idea; she left a while ago with Minerva," Severus replied, squeezing the bridge of his nose.

"Can't wait to leave?" Remus asked.

"Everytime I do, Dumbledore always catches me. I know Albus thinks he's doing something nice, but this is the last think that I wanted to do; especially the weekend before all the students decided to come back and grace the halls again," Severus said.

"Had other plans?" Remus asked, wanting to see what response he would get, but all it was, was a glare. "You know Severus, you're like the son Dumbledore never had; of course he's going to go out of his way to do things for you-"

"Come back!" McGonagall shouted, running through the open door, while holding several ribbons in her hand.

"Mrs. Norris!" Hermione exclaimed, chasing after the two and holding an assortment of bows in one of her hands.

"It'll just take a minute!" McGonagall said.

"We want to make you look better, than your normal, dismal-looking, cranky, and care-worn self!" Hermione said, nearly running into a chair, that McGonagall had thrown over to try and stop the scared cat, who all-but yelped.

"Oh Merlin," Severus groaned and put his head in his hands, while Remus was practically beside himself in laughter.

Suddenly, a very perturbed-looking Filch appeared through the doorway and shrieked in a very un-Filch, un-manlike way.

"My cat! What – what are you doing to my cat?" He yelled, running into the room.

"Making it look better," McGonagall said and then grabbed the cat by her tail.

Mrs. Norris's eyeballs practically bulged out of their sockets as McGonagall lifted her up and then grabbed her, while Filch started ranting again.

"Never grab a cat's-" Hermione reprimanded as McGonagall turned around and tried to give Hermione the struggling cat, who scratched her right across the face.

"Minerva!" Hermione exclaimed, covering her face. "Put that thing dow-"

"My cat is not a _thing_!" Filch shouted, spit flying from his mouth.

McGonagall quickly put Mrs. Norris down, who ran straight for Filch. Picking up his beloved pet, the caretaker examined her and his face quickly turned sour.

"What did you do to my cat? She looks…despicable!"

"Most would say it's an improvement," Hermione quirked.

_She didn't…_Severus thought, daring to look up at the scene. _Nope, she did_. _Note-to-self, never let Hermione have a Jager Bomb, ever again_.

"She looks like…she looks like a _woman-_"

"She's a _female _cat," McGonagall said.

"You turned her into a pansy!"

Both Hermione and Professor McGonagall looked extremely appalled.

"_Pansy_? You think women are _pansies_?" McGonagall exclaimed, withdrawing her wand. "How about we make you _live_ like a _pansy_ for a day?"

"No wonder why he's still single," Hermione murmured out loud.

Filch looked at the crazed Transfiguration Professor and bolted right out the door, McGonagall following right behind him, "Oh no you don't, Argus!"

"Minerva!" Hermione shouted, running after her.

"What's gotten into you, woman?" Filch's voice echoed down the hallway.

"Jager bombs; you should try one. That way, maybe it won't seem like you always have a stick shoved up your-"

"Oh my!" Professor Sprout exclaimed, so that no one in the room heard the rest of McGonagall's exclamation. "I have never seen Minerva act like this…" she finished.

"She actually remained in a sane state, by the end of the New Year's Eve party," one member of the staff voiced out loud.

"I haven' se'hn' her act like tha' since…well, I du'no," Hagrid replied sloppily.

"Aren't you going to do anything, Severus?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"About what?" He asked, finally looking up.

"Hermione," he said.

"No," he replied. "I'm not getting involved."

"Dumbledore!" Someone called from across the room, dragging the old man away.

"No drinks?" Remus asked, after he had finally gotten over his bough of laughter.

"No," Severus replied.

"Why not?" Remus pried.

"Because," Severus said, as Hermione came back into the room. "I have to go home with _that_," he replied, pointing his finger at Hermione.

"We'll make sure you both get back safely," Remus offered.

"No; I'd like at least _one_ of us to be in a stable state," he replied. "I don't want anything…unnecessary to happen, especially if Janie needs one of us; I don't want her to see either of us, when we're not sober."

"I could always-"

"No; it's alright," Severus stated firmly.

---

"Why are we here, Severus?" Hermione asked, looking around at their Hogwarts' quarters.

"Because the party's over and you're not going back in the current state that you're in," he said.

"Going back where?"

"With Janie-"

"Oh; so we're _finally_ alone?" Hermione asked, rounding the table.

"No; actually, Hagrid's in the kitchen-"

"No he's not," Hermione said, as Severus pulled something out of his pocket.

"Hermione," Severus stated, as she backed him into a corner.

"Isn't it your birthday?" She asked, playing with his top button.

_Why can't she fall asleep now, like she did after that party that I had to go to…_

"January ninth; why, I believe it is your birthday after all and if I remember correctly, you didn't even get your gift yet," she said, unbuttoning the first few buttons on his white shirt.

_I'm shocked you can even remember anything at the moment_, Severus thought as he grabbed her hands, almost dropping the bottle.

"Stop," he said forcefully.

"What? But-" she said, yanking her one hand free, and then the other one.

"You want to do something for my birthday? Then drink this," he said, uncorking the bottle that he was still miraculously holding.

"What is it?" She asked, taking it and wafted the smell. "It smells sweet," she added and to Severus's great surprise, she downed the liquid, and to his even greater surprise, threw the now-empty bottle at the fireplace.

"I never had that before," she said, continuing to fumble over his shirt's buttons, but getting a better idea, she took out her wand.

Whispering a spell, Hermione put the tip of her wand to Severus's shirt and once he saw that where the tip of the wand was placed, his shirt disappeared, he quickly grabbed her wand right out of her hand.

"What are you _doing_?" Severus bit.

_Now would be a really good time for that potion to work_, he thought hopefully.

"I thought-"

"No," he said.

"But it's been-"

"No," he repeated. "We're not doing this now-"

"But we're finally alo-"

He shook his head, "You're completely dru-"

"So?" She asked.

"'So?' All you have to say is _so_? We're not going to do anything while you're completely intoxicated! And don't give me that look; you know _damn well_ that if you were in any screaming distance of a right mind, you'd say the _same thing to me_," he said, as she just stared back at him, her eyes becoming increasingly wider.

Instead of getting a response, Hermione grabbed her head and collapsed on the spot and would have fallen to the floor, if it weren't for Severus, who caught her and breathed a sigh of relief, _It finally worked_.

---

A little while later, Hermione rubbed her head and sat up, opening her eyes to find Severus staring intently at her, with his arms crossed.

"Have fun?" He asked skeptically.

She shook her head, "I ruined your birthday; didn't I?"

"I wouldn't say exactly that," he said, getting up.

"Yes, I did," she said, moving over, so that Severus could sit on the other side of the couch. "I know I did," she said, looking down at the ground.

"No-" he started, once he was sitting on the couch, but had no idea how to continue, without setting her off. "Well," he finally decided. "What you did to Filch's cat was quite amusing…" he trailed off, while Hermione looked up at him. "She had it coming though; she nearly tripped me down the stairs, before leaving for break," he said.

"Had it coming, indeed. That cat was the reason why Harry, Ron, and I found so many different hiding places around Hogwarts," she said.

"You wouldn't have found them, if you actually obeyed the curfew," he said.

"Yeah…" Hermione trailed off and moved over to the seat next to Severus. "I'm really sorry about my…behavior today, especially within the last hour," she apologized and as Severus remained quiet, she continued on. "You know, I actually had an entire day planned out, for your birthday…none of it included what I did today…"

"You wouldn't have had much time after Albus' party anyways," Severus said softly.

"But I'm pretty sure that we could have slipped out somehow," Hermione said, resting her head on his shoulder, momentarily thinking that he would pull away.

"What was that potion that you gave me?" She whispered, after several moments.

"Something that I created a while ago; it's a sobering potion," he replied.

Hermione nodded, "It works."

"I know; that's why I gave it to you," he said.

"I _really_ am sorry, though," she apologized again, tears threatening to well up in her eyes.

"I tried slipping out; it didn't work. I swear, Dumbledore must be able to see out of the back of his head, too," Severus said and when he didn't get a reply from Hermione, he looked down to find his shirt balled up in one of her hands. "Please, don't start crying," he said. "It's over with-"

Hermione cut Severus off, as she threw her arms around him and hugged him, "I'm so sorry; you kept trying to stop me, but I wouldn't listen…I'm _so_ embarrassed; I wouldn't blame you if-"

"Don't," he said. "Finish what you were going to say; I don't want to hear it. The stupid mistake of drinking too much has happened to all of us; except I believe you managed to go above-and-beyond this time," he said.

"Like on everything I do," she said quietly. "I think I need to finally learn to stop."

"Then you wouldn't be you," he said almost inaudibly.

---

A little more than a month of passing students, exploding cauldrons, and family fights had passed (because she was mad at her father, Janie had actually exploded a cauldron on purpose, during one of her Potions classes, which caused an entire week's worth of fighting), which lead them right to one of Severus's least-favorite holidays, Valentine's Day.

Luckily, Valentine's Day was on a Friday this year, but that only gave Dumbledore a leeway for a new idea: all students and staff would have Valentine's Day off, in order to have a Valentine's Day Ball. Severus knew that Dumbledore had definitely done some serious twisting and meddling when it came down to his plans for the Ball. For one thing, anybody who attended the Ball, would have their curfew extended an hour and then, he even went as far as setting up two parts: a party, which was for the first through fourth years and then the Ball, which was specifically for the staff, and all students from fifth to seventh year; Dumbledore had even taken up "hard work" of setting up the supervision for each of these two events.

Announcing his brilliant plan to the staff, just two weeks before Valentine's Day, had gone just about as well as announcing it to the students, just a week before the special event; the girl's went through such a shopping deprivement that Dumbledore had to organize a special Hogsmeade trip, while the boys only worried about what to buy their Valentines. While the students were busy fretting around the castle, good, old Dumbledore was currently busy announcing the supervising plans: the staff that worked the party were not allowed to work the Ball, which meant that they were not allowed to take house points, which meant that Severus was stuck supervising the party. Among the select few who were chosen to supervise the party, McGonagall and Lupin were thrown into the mix, Sinstra was forced to work at the dance, while Hermione had gotten out of supervising both.

Along with Dumbledore's overly-excited, happy air of practically prancing throughout the corridors, much to Severus's great distaste, the man had also invited Harry, Ginny, _and_ Ron. Seeing as it was the day of the Ball and Ginny's only free day off, since she was invited, she and Hermione were currently off dress shopping, being completely excused by Dumbledore; the excuse that Hermione gave Severus went something along the lines of them having to meet at eight in the morning to go shopping, to all the way to eight at night, when the dance actually started, just to get ready.

So, there Severus sat, at the Head's table, thankful that Dumbledore made all the attendants to the party wear their school robes; it was one less thing that he had to worry about.

---

"I can't believe that Dumbledore is making us wear our school robes," Lyss complained, as they were on their way to the party.

"And that matters exactly why?" Matt asked, as Janie silently waited for Lyss's outburst for an explanation.

"Because! Now, he won't even care!" Lyss exclaimed, while Janie was sniggering on the inside; she had heard this from Lyss one to many times this week already. "I planned _all week_ on what I was going to wear! I fussed about it, bought new things, and even sent letters home!"

"_You're eleven_!" Matt cried out, as they rounded a corner. "You shouldn't even think about things like that!"

"She should, if she wants to impress another _boy_," Janie added innocently.

"_Boy_? What boy?" Matt asked.

"And you're too young to be acting like my father, Matthew; so stop it already," Lyss said.

"His name's Logan an-"

"Logan _Bax_?" Matt asked, his voice seeming to echo down the hallway, making his sister's face turn a bright pink. "My _roommate_?"

"That's the one," Janie said. "That tall, blonde boy with the awesome-looking hair."

"Janie," Lyss seethed. "You're not helping."

"Yes she is," Matt said quickly. "Go on Janie; I want the girl perspective."

"Well," Janie said happily. "He's a nice guy, not really good in charms though – no Lyss, that doesn't mean that you can tutor him…But anyways…" Janie went on, until they came to the Great Hall's entrance and paused, blocking off several people from entering, who almost ran into them.

"Wow," Lyss said. "I've never seen anything so-"

"_Pink_," Matt said, like the word was poison. "Yuck!"

"Well, there's some red and white in there too," Janie added.

"But _pink_ drapes?" Matt asked.

"There are white ones too," Janie pointed out.

Matt's reactions were the typical boy exclamation, when they first saw the Hall; the colors were definitely screaming "girl's paradise." Not only did Dumbledore decorate the Hall, but he also totally changed the set up of the house tables. Currently, there were only two of the long house tables, pushed against adjacent walls, and then there were small, circular tables that were scattered around the entire Hall, except what was supposed to be the dance floor, was completely free. On each table were an assortment of the ever-popular candy hearts, along with pink, red, and white cut-out Valentine's Day hearts, which not only littered the table, but also floated above everybody's heads.

"Oh look who's here; it's the new Golden Trio!" McGonagall said happily.

"The _what_?" Severus asked, turning away from his conversation with Remus.

"The new trio," she responded simply, pointing at Janie, Lyss, and Matt.

"Just because there are three of them, doesn't make them the new Golden Trio," Severus said sourly. "There are lots of other students that run around in packs of three."

"There are so many similarities though! Like how Janie's in it; the daughter of you and Hermione and then there's-"

"It still doesn't mean-"

"Why are you so negative towards this idea, Severus?" McGonagall asked, giving him one of her famous looks.

"Because Severus doesn't want his daughter compared so closely to Harry and Ron," Remus stated, getting a nasty look from Severus.

"Severus," McGonagall reprimanded, but was lost on what else to say. "Grow up," was the first phrase to pop into her mind.

"Grow up? Speak for yourself; I don't get completely wasted at every party I go to," he countered.

McGonagall looked utterly shocked, while Severus looked quite pleased with himself, having seen the older witch's features; Remus just shook his head and hoped for a more enjoyable three hours.

---

"There's too much…" Matt muttered, like he was in shock.

"Shut up, Matt; it's just a color and I doubt anybody has ever _died_ of seeing too much pink," Lyss said, having sat down at a table, after dancing for over an hour.

"So," Janie said, sitting next to Lyss. "Dance with Logan yet?"

"No," Lyss said deliberately. "You would have seen."

"Well, you still have a good two hours left…"

"But I _had_ three," Lyss said glumly.

"Get over it already," Matt said, as a quick-paced song started playing.

"Hi Janie," a voice send from behind her.

"Hi," Janie started and spun around to see Scott smiling at her. "Hey Scott! What's up?"

"Enjoying all the pink?" Matt asked, earning a warning glare from his sister.

"Like your headbands," Scott commenting, gesturing towards her hair with his hand.

Janie smiled, "Thanks for them again; I really didn't have a lot of green ones…I really needed some more."

"Want to sit down?" Matt asked Scott; normally, he wouldn't have asked a Slytherin to sit down, especially when they were beating Gryffindor in the House Cup, but Scott was Janie's friend and they'd all agreed that they would be nice to him.

Scott shook his head, "I was actually just coming to a…err ask Janie…if she wanted to…dance?" Scott asked shyly.

"Sure!" Janie said, jumping up from her seat and walking out to the dance floor, immediately grabbing the attention of somebody's piercing, black eyes.

Lyss folded her arms and watched as Scott followed Janie to the dance floor, before getting an idea. Getting up from her seat, she walked into a crowd of boys and grabbed Logan's hand.

"Lyss; what's going on?" The confused boy asked.

"We're going to dance," she said, plowing her way through the crowd.

**At the Slytherin table…**

"Is that _Scott_ dancing with _Snape_?" Jessica Aaron asked.

"Um, I don't know," her friend lied. "Who cares anyways?"

"Who cares? _Who cares_? She's a _Gryffindor_!" Jessica said, like the action was scandalous.

"You're over-reac-"

"No I'm not; how could he dance with _her_? She's _Professor Snape's daughter_! Not to mention Gra-"

"You're jealous, just because he turned you down for a dance; _three_ times," her friend said, getting quite tired of Jessica's rambling.

Jessica immediately shut her mouth and had looked like she had been smacked in the face, before her eyes flashed dangerously and hissed, "I didn't need to be reminded of that…oh great; a slow song!" Jessica said, suddenly finding an interest in her pudding.

---

After the party and after being practically kicked out of his quarters and ransacked in a corridor by Sinstra, if he hadn't found a last-minute hiding spot, his day was _not_ going well. As if it was bad enough that he had to supervise the party, he was now walking through the corridors of Hogwarts wearing dress pants, a deep, maroon dress shirt, and his leather jacket, which probably hadn't been touched in over a year; in his attempt to quickly leave their quarters, he reached out to his coat rack and against all odds, picked out the last jacket that he wanted to wear around the halls of Hogwarts (he didn't want anybody in the corridors than necessary to see him wearing color; he only did it, because it was Valentine's Day and thought of it as almost of a gift to Hermione, if he didn't wear black again…which he was close to doing). Having returned to his quarters, after the party, Hermione had not come out of her room, but threatened to hex Severus if he dared to "peek at them," and if he didn't leave soon, she'd charm whatever he would be wearing pink (of course, this was after he had replied with a rather rude comment, after Hermione had told him that they were still getting ready).

Entering the Great Hall through the staff's door, the first thing that greeted Severus's eyes, were the images of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, who were both talking to Professor McGonagall.

_Wonderful_, Severus grumbled to himself. _Now all we're missing is_-

"Hello Severus."

_Lupin_, Severus thought, as he turned around to meet the man.

"I didn't think I'd be seeing you here so soon," Remus said.

"Neither did I," Severus muttered.

"Hey Professors," Harry greeted, walking up to join in on their conversation. "Nice jacket, Professor."

Snape rolled his eyes.

"Do you know where Ginny is?" Harry asked.

"With Hermione, getting ready for the Ball-"

"_Still_?" Harry asked unbelievably. "How _long_ do they _need_?"

"Since eight this morning," Severus replied, as Harry looked towards the doors.

"Doing _what_?"

"I don't know, nor do I want to," Severus said, as Harry started walking towards the doors. "I wouldn't go down there, but if you want certain parts hexed off of your body, go have a party."

"What…erhm…parts?" Harry asked.

"You don't want to know," Snape said. "But among others, your eyeballs might be the first to go, especially if you ask them what they're doing."

"I don't think I want to go anymore," Harry said, solemnly walking back to the table and plopping himself down onto a seat.

---

"I still can't believe you got me to wear this," Hermione said, once she was wearing her dress.

"It's so completely you; besides, you're the one who picked it out," Ginny said, trying to put the finishing touches on her face.

"I know, but it's a school function," Hermione sighed.

"So what? I bet you that there's going to be at _least_ three girls who dress like they're selling themselves-"

"_Ginny!_" Hermione exclaimed, turning around and looking absolutely appalled.

"I'm sorry Hermione; but you know it's true," Ginny replied.

"You could have at least said it a little more tactfully," Hermione replied.

"But as we were saying before, the dress is fine; it's perfect for you! I mean, look at it, it hugs your curves perfectly, not to mention, shows them off, and then, you have the v-neck-"

Hermione looked at the clock, "It's eight already!"

"What did you expect? I couldn't pick on the right hairstyle at the parlor," Ginny said.

"If you only let the stylist do the hairstyle that she wanted in the _first_ place, it would have saved us almost twenty-minutes," Hermione replied.

Ginny waved her off, "I wasn't sure. Now, back to what I was saying in the first place; the v-neck isn't high at all, and it's not extremely low…just enough to get their imaginations working-"

Hermione shot her a scathing look.

"But, as they say, if you've got it, flaunt it; and you, Hermione Granger, definitely have it."

"Ginny-"

"Seriously; I can't wait until I see Snape's face, when he sees you," Ginny said, as she followed Hermione out the door.

"I think he's going to be too busy glaring at you for threatening to hex him below the belt, if he saw me before the Ball," Hermione said, as she locked the door and started the trek up to the Great Hall.

---

Fifteen minutes later, the doors opened and the students started piling into the Great Hall, admiring the decorations. Surprisingly, Dumbledore hadn't done much, except to make the decorations a little more sophisticated and removed the smaller tables, allowing for a larger dance floor; the two house tables however, remained – they were just now on opposite sides of the Hall. After about another ten minutes, Severus had found himself becoming increasingly bored with the conversation and his eyes started to travel across the Hall, when two figures entered the dance; his eyes immediately locking onto one of them.

As soon as Severus's eyes landed on Hermione, all of his anger suddenly left his body and he became totally oblivious to everything and everybody around him. She was wearing a powder-blue dress that was simply astounding; it was everything that Ginny had said and more and she was wearing her hair in a high bun, with a few loose stands of hair framing her face. The dress itself was of a spaghetti-strap style, whose bottom, reminded him of a salsa-styled dress. Next to Hermione, was Ginny, who Severus, at the moment, had no idea that she was pointing at him.

Ginny's dress, although not as fitting as Hermione's, screamed her name and the word "summer," because of the coloring and the fact that it was strapless. Ginny had chosen a crimson dress with gold accents that just passed her knees; to complement the dress, Ginny had finally decided to have her hair styled in light curls.

"He's not glaring at me," Ginny said, pointing up Severus, who was gaping from the Head's Table. "Actually, I've never seen him give anybody that look before; see, I told you he'd like how you look."

"Ginny," Hermione said, blushing furiously.

"That's all I'm saying on that matter; did I tell you that Harry and I figured out a date for the wedding?" Ginny asked, passing a group of students and tried to hold in a laugh; one of the girls apparently saw her boyfriend eye-balling Hermione and smacked him in the back of the head.

"_Already_?" Hermione asked, glaring at the boy; Snape apparently noticing, because he gave the young man a filthy look.

"Yeah; I've always wanted to have a spring wedding; so, Harry let me have one! And instead of waiting until next year to get married, we picked this spring!" Ginny exclaimed.

"_This _spring; while everyone's in school and at work?" Hermione asked, sending a warning look off at another boy.

"That's why we're going to get married during spring break; at the end of March! Harry already talked to Dumbledore about it; he was absolutely thrilled that he now has his 'two boys' getting married, although I think he was a little upset that apparently neither of us want to get married at Hogwarts," Ginny explained.

"'His two boys?'" Hermione asked. "That's what he's calling them now?"

"Yeah; I think it's kind of cute," Ginny replied honestly.

"It is," Hermione agreed, as she looked up at the Head Table and saw McGonagall knock Severus in the shoulder, getting a really ugly look from him.

"Did you know that he wouldn't stop talking about you two?" Ginny asked.

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah; according to Harry, he's really happy…I think even proud that you and Snape are getting married. But anyways, I think we're going to get married somewhere tropical; I was thinking somewhere with beautiful beaches and wizarding hotels…so far, the Bahamas are winning," Ginny said.

"The _Bahamas_?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah and you know what?" Ginny asked.

"What?" Hermione replied.

"I want you to by my Maid of Honor," Ginny announced happily.

"Really?" Hermione asked unbelievably.

"Of course, you're like my best friend," Ginny said.

"Thanks, Ginny," Hermione said enthusiastically.

Ginny nodded, as they finally reached the Head Table and found Severus and Harry awaiting their arrival.

"Wow," Harry said. "Ginny, you look beautiful."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Severus," Hermione said, to the absolutely speechless Severus. "Wow," Severus said. "You look absolutely heavenly."

Hermione blushed, as Ginny looked up at Harry, "How come I only got a beautiful? Hermione was basically called a goddess."

"Because Snape has a bigger vocabulary than me," Harry replied smiling, moving towards the Head Table.

"Since you didn't work the party, you can do me a huge favor and take points away from every boy who looked your way when you came in," Severus said, as Harry and Ginny walked to the staff's table. "If you're wondering; I saw three," he added, making Hermione shake her head.

"Thank you, Severus for the gesture, but I don't think it's necessary," Hermione replied and did something that Severus thought she would never do it a million years; she reached up and kissed him, right in the Great Hall, making his face nearly turn beat-red.

---

The dance was just about halfway over now and Severus had just finished denying to dance with Hermione…again.

"Why not?" Hermione asked.

"We've been over this before, Hermione," Severus said.

"Fine," Hermione said and turned to talk to Ginny.

Several minutes later, Ron came up behind Hermione and tapped her on the shoulder, "Err, Hermione; would you like to ah…dance?"

Hermione turned around and smiled, while Snape rapidly turned around in his chair and started to immediately glare, "No-" He started, but was completely cut off by Hermione.

"Sure, Ron," Hermione said and got up from her seat, letting Ron lead her to the dance floor.

As soon as Harry saw Ron walk onto the dance floor with Hermione, he immediately looked up to find Snape wearing the sourest expression that he had ever seen. Luckily the song that was now currently playing was not slow, but it wasn't exactly fast either, but it still didn't stop Snape from glaring from the time that Hermione left, until the time that Hermione and Ron had stopped dancing. After they were done, the two exchanged words, while Severus distinctly saw Hermione mouth his name, following up with something that made Ron blush. His expression soured even more, when he noticed that the words "kiss" and "hexed" were said and before Hermione finally decided to make her way back up to the Head Table, she patted Ron on the shoulder.

Severus was still staring at the last spot Ron and Hermione had been, several crazy thoughts running through his head, when Hermione sat back down and noticed the undeniable look on his face.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked him, even though she had a pretty good idea what was wrong.

"Severus?" Hermione asked when he remained silent, while Remus quietly got up from his seat and left the table, not wanting to hear what was coming; he too had seen the look on Severus's face. "Please don't tell me you're acting like this because I-"

"Danced with Weasley," he growled, and for once, there was emotion behind his words.

"I cannot believe you are mad over a dance…" she paused as he lowered his head away from her. "You're not mad…you're completely jealous! But I asked you to dance!" She said, as he kept his head bowed, assuring her that there was more to the matter at hand.

After several moments, Severus brought his head back up and glanced around them; his eyes darting towards Ron and then lingering for several extra seconds on Hermione's engagement ring.

"You didn't think…" Hermione started. "You did, didn't you?" She asked and when he remained quiet, his silence assured her.

"You did," she stated, making him look at her. "I would _never_ do that to you, _ever_ and don't _ever_ forget that," she said.

After several moments of silence surrounded them, Severus got up from his seat, but instead of leaving, he stood behind Hermione and when she turned around, he slightly bowed his head, "Would you like to dance?"

Hermione practically fell off her chair, along with McGonagall, who had also started quietly gagging on her wine when she had seen him get up out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes; definitely," Hermione replied and graciously took his offered hand.

---

"Thank you, Severus," Hermione said, after they were safely back in their quarters. "For everything. You know, you picked like the slowest song to da – What are these?" She asked, coming out of the kitchen, with a red box and a rose.

"For you," he replied. "For Valentine's Day; I couldn't give them to you before, because you spent the entire day getting ready."

Hermione smiled, "Sorry about that; especially for Ginny's rather…rude comment."

"I have a feeling she makes those comments on a regular basis," Severus replied.

"Maybe every-other-day," Hermione said, walking over to stand in front of him.

"I really appreciate you dancing with me _and_ the wonderful gift," she said. "This has been the _best_ Valentine's Day I've ever had," she replied, reaching up to give him a 'thank you' kiss.

"It was my pleasure," he replied, returning the favor.

"Really?" She asked, moving him back towards the wall.

"Yes; now, stop talking already," he said, making her laugh.

"You're so impatient," she said sarcastically, making him growl in frustration.

Hermione pulled away, "I think-"

"I think you need practice what you said you were going to do earlier; learn to stop doing certain things – this is certainly one of them," he said, completely annoyed.

"What? Talking too much?" She asked, pretending to be completely clueless.

"_Yes_," he said.

When Hermione had finally decided not to talk anymore, having nothing more to say on anything, as it was just their luck, someone started knocking on their door.

"Hermione?" Harry called. "I have a quick question…"

"Oh my gods," Hermione hissed. "Why now?"

"Who cares? He doesn't know we're here," Severus replied.

"And where do you think we went?" Hermione replied.

"Well," Severus said. "He won't know if we're in the bedroom," he said with suggestively raised eyebrows.

Hermione gave him a look, before quickly taking out her wand and warding the door to their quarters and then moments later, their bedroom.

**A/N: A special thanks to ****Sianna Nightingale****, for all her help with this chapter, including the part when Janie locked her parents in the room and for helping with the dance, among other things and to badminne08, who made sure that some crazy parts I wrote, were actually not that crazy and for persuading me to use "Your Man," as the chapter's title, which belongs to Josh Turner. I know there were a few more things that I wanted to day, but I forgot…bad me. The part during the fireworks show, when Patrick exclaims how much it looks like daylight out, I had to add in there, because while I was at Walt Disney World a few years ago, right at the ending of Epcot's firework show, a little girl who was standing right by me, pointing at the sky and said something like, "Woah; Daddy look! It looks like the sun's out already!" I just thought it was so adorable, I had to put it in here. Anyways, I think I mentioned something about the website to this story, and that should be ready in a few days; the link will be set as my homepage on my profile, here on fanfiction on there. If you're interested in what's going to happen in the next chapter, I have a promo up for it on there now. Thanks to everybody who has stayed with me this long; I can't believe that's already been over a year! All of your reviews are _greatly _appreciated, along with everyone's continued interest with the story!**


	25. Chasing Lives PI

**Disclaimer: Alright, I definitely don't own Harry Potter and am really not making any money off of this…J.K. Rowling is.**

**Alright, so I'm really sorry about the delay; my teachers apparently thought that it would be funny to give three research projects in a row. Yes, if you haven't seen already, this chapter had to be split up into two parts too (I really didn't want to do it though); I didn't want to give out another fifty-something page chapter all in one go. So, without further ado, here's the next part:**

---

"Are you done yet? Your mother has already called for you _four_ times," Severus said, currently standing with his arms crossed, in Janie's dormitory. "We told you the beginning of break."

"Then why doesn't she come up and help me?" Janie asked, walking into the bathroom. "Besides, break doesn't officially start until tomorrow…which is Friday."

Severus ignored Janie's last comment. "Because she doesn't feel well," he replied, still receiving weary looks from the two girls, who hadn't made it out of the room in time.

"She sure seemed well enough to yell at me," Janie commented, throwing a bag towards her father, who raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not carrying your bags," he said. "You've known for almost _three_ weeks when we were going to leave; that's _plenty_ of time to get your things in order," Severus said, as Lyss ran into the bathroom to help Janie.

"You and Mum said that the wedding would be during Spring break; I thought it would only be two days – you didn't tell me that we'd be at the hotel for four," Janie said, bringing out another bag and then shrunk the two down to fit inside of her pocket.

"How'd you do that?" Lyss asked amazed.

"I read it in a book and it also really helps that I've heard my mum say it enough times," Janie replied simply, picking up her bags and sliding them into her pocket.

After bidding her goodbyes, Janie followed her father out of her dormitory and through the Gryffindor common room, earning many stares; Janie just looked around proudly at the room, daring anybody to say anything. When they were finally out and in the safety of the corridors, Janie finally decided to ask the question that she had been wanting to, since her father had arrived in her dormitory.

"Is mum alright?" Janie asked, looking up at her father.

"She probably would be, if she didn't eat that entire box of chocolate last night," he replied.

"Is she on one of her chocolate kicks again?" Janie asked, like it was nothing new.

Her father raised an eyebrow, "'Chocolate kicks?'"

"Yeah; she'll go on a chocolate-eating frenzy and will eat it all day, but she usually doesn't get sick afterwards," Janie said, as they began their descent into the dungeons.

"She's not _sick_; if she was, then we wouldn't have to go – it'd be a bloody miracle," Severus said.

"Yes we would," Janie said. "I'm the flower girl; I _have_ to go! If mum doesn't go, then you'll still be able to come with me; she's been sick before, I'm sure that she'll be alright by herself," Janie finished as they arrived at her parents' quarters, but Severus made no movement to open the door.

"Why aren't we going in?" Janie asked, looking up to look at her father and stopped dead when she saw the look that he was giving her.

"You better be careful with what you say to her or you'll find yourself at Hogwarts for the rest of break," Severus said warningly.

Janie's eyes widened, "That's not fair! Everyone I know will either be at the wedding or have gone home for the week!"

"I'm sure Filch wouldn't mind an extra helper," he said, taking down the wards on the door and entering the room, receiving a glare from Janie.

"Did I miss something?" Hermione asked, when her daughter walked into the room, wearing a very bitter expression.

"No," Janie said, her expression suddenly turning to normal. "I heard that you weren't feeling well; are you alright?"

"Much better," Hermione replied. "Those potions really do work wonders."

"Potions?" Severus asked.

"I brewed them while you were gone and yes, before you ask, I did remember to write down that you're almost out of billywing flies."

"When are we leaving?" Janie asked, glancing up to look at the clock.

"As soon as I finish getting our bags together," Hermione replied, leaving the room.

"Aren't you going to help her, so we can leave already?" Janie asked, looking up at her father.

"I'm done already," he countered.

"Yes, but mum's not feeling well; you ought to go and help her out," Janie said, as her father turned around to leave.

"And please, don't do whatever you did on Christmas morning; we were almost late for the party!" Janie pleaded, as her father disappeared through his doorway.

"Good; you're done," Severus said, as Hermione closed one of her bags.

"I would have been done sooner, but you packed all the wrong clothes," Hermione informed him.

"I did not pack the 'wrong clothes,'" he defended.

"You packed all winter clothes," she stated.

"It's the end of March; it's not exactly summer now, is it?"

"You do know where we're going, right?" Hermione asked.

"Am I supposed to?" Severus looked at her.

"Did you read the invitation that I gave you a few weeks ago?" She asked, shrinking down her belongings.

"Was I supposed to? You and Janie read it; I didn't think that I would need to too."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "If you would have taken the few extra seconds to glance at the announcement, then you would have known that Harry and Ginny are getting married in the tropics."

"It's called charms," Severus replied, crossing his arms.

"Charms are not going to help when everyone is staring at you, because you are dressed in long, black clothing," Hermione said.

"It shouldn't matter; people should mind their own business," he said.

"But they don't, which is why you should check your bags before we leave; you might find a few things…changed," Hermione said, as Severus shot her a cautious glare and hesitantly walked over to the side of the bed that his things were occupying.

"Why is there nothing with long sleeves in here?" He asked angrily.

"Because the clothes that we're wearing during the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, have already been sent to the hotel-"

"So what did you do with everything else?"

"I transfigured them-"

"You _what_?" Snape asked, taking out an article of black clothing.

Hermione looked him right in the eye, "I transfigured them; you're not going to be stared at all break, because you refuse to wear what is considered 'normal' clothing, for where we are going. Now, before you start ranting, I only changed your shirts and got rid of your cloaks," Hermione said, as Severus held up the black object and let it unfold itself, to reveal a black t-shirt.

Right as he was about to tell her off for deciding to "fix" his clothes, they heard Janie yelling from the living room, "Mum, Dad; Ginny's here – and I'm _not_ joking this time!"

"She's early!" Hermione exclaimed, quickly exiting the room.

Grumbling something to himself, Severus threw the shirt back on top of all the folded clothes, shut his case sharply, and shrunk the bags down so that it could fit into his pockets, and then left the room.

"Hi Professor," Ginny greeted, when she saw her former Professor enter the room.

Severus mumbled something in reply, earning an admonishing look from Hermione.

"Don't mind him; he's a little cranky at the moment," Hermione said.

Ginny nodded, having to bite her tongue to prevent herself from immediately replying with a smart comment.

"So, are we ready then?" Ginny asked.

"I think so," Hermione said and glanced towards Severus, making sure that there were no objections. "Yes, we're all ready; just let me make sure that Matches is alri-"

"Why?" Severus asked. "The house elves are here-"

"Because-"

"And you _already_ have Doby enthusiastic about being able to take care of a kitten-"

"Hermione, he'll be fine," Ginny said. "Janie was just playing with him. So, now we're good, right?"

Hermione nodded.

"Alright," Ginny said. "Now that that's all settled, I'll take Janie with me, and then you two will follow; the name of the hotel is the Prestigious Pelican Paradise-"

"Why couldn't you tell us the name before?" Hermione inquired.

"Because I want when I take you, to be a surprise; knowing you, you probably would have gone there to check it out the day after I told you."

Hermione crossed her arms, "Not the _day _after-"

"Can we go yet?" Janie asked impatiently, walking towards Ginny, with a smile on her face.

Ginny nodded, "And once everybody who's coming tonight is there, we'll hand out the room keys and everything-"

"We're not payi-" Hermione started to question, but Ginny put a hand up to silence her.

"We've got it all covered; Harry insisted on it, especially after how much you've helped him out and everything."

"It was nothing, really," Hermione replied, her face starting to turn red.

"Yes, it really was; Harry and Ron probably would have gotten themselves killed at least a dozen of times, if you hadn't been there-"

"You're exaggerating-"

"Harry told me some of the things that he had been up to and they _definitely_ count as more than one offense against him. Now, there will be nothing more said, because my mum will have a fit, if we don't show up soon; she might start thinking that we ended up flooing somewhere without any floo powder," Ginny said with a smile. "Besides, from the look on Snape's face, you're going to be interrupted as soon as you're alone. Alright, Janie; let's go," Ginny said, after she saw the look that Hermione was giving her.

As soon as Ginny and Janie disappeared in a whirl of green flames, Severus turned his head to look at Hermione.

"Alright then," Hermione said quickly, walking over towards the fireplace. "I think we can go no," she said, gathering a handful of floo powder. "Well, aren't you coming too?" Hermione asked Severus, seeing as he hadn't moved a muscle.

"They're gone," he said.

"We're supposed to be following them," she replied.

"We don't have to go," Severus continued, in the same, steady voice.

"We can just close the floo-"

"Janie-"

"Is gone for four days with the Weasley's; it'll be an absolute vacation for her," Severus replied.

"They'll come looking for us-"

"Not if they can't find u-"

"I can't believe that you're suggesting this," Hermione said, some of the floo powder falling from her enclosed hand. "You just don't want to go."

"Mum! Dad!" Janie's head exclaimed from their fireplace. "Get your – I'm not saying that to them, Uncle Ron; that's a bad word!" Janie said, as she turned her head away from her parents, "If you want it said, then say it yourself; I'm not stupid."

Severus smirked; _his_ daughter just called Weasley 'stupid.'

"Mum, Dad; please come before Uncle Ron has me say something that's going to get me into trouble – he's daring to tickle me!" Janie's head soon disappeared, only to be replaced by Ginny's.

"Hermione Granger, I swear; if you decide not to come, I'll hunt you dow-"

"No!" Janie's giggling yell was heard from somewhere behind Ginny.

"Don't you dare chase her in here, Ron…not over the couch!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, after Janie had jumped over the lobby's couch.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, walking over to the fireplace.

Ginny turned her head, "Ron's chasing Janie, who jumped over the cou-"

_BAM_!  
_CRACK_!

"_RONALD_!"

"THE TABLE!"

"THE COUCH!"

Hermione poked her head through the fireplace, while Ginny was busy laughing herself to death. Apparently, Ron had decided to follow Janie up and over the backend of the couch, but instead ended up toppling the couch over backwards, while he flew forwards into the coffee table, which cracked right in half.

"Janie!" Hermione exclaimed, right before Severus shoved her through the fire, and she came tumbling out on the other side.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked, pulling her head out of the fire.

Hermione stood, "He pushed me through!" She said, pointing at Severus, who had just emerged from the roaring, emerald flames.

"You were taking up the entire fireplace; I couldn't see what was going on," he said simply.

"Get back here!" Ron yelled, chasing Fred out of the lobby's back door. "I told you no pictures!"

Ginny and Hermione looked at each other and immediately started laughing.

Trying to subdue her laughter, Hermione tried to fill in Severus, who was looking slightly confused, "Ron tried…tickling Janie, who ran…and jumped over the couch…and Ron tried, but didn't make it…because the couch tipped backwards and he fell forwards…and broke…the table…" When Hermione finished, if it was even possible, Ginny started laughing even harder.

"Ginny," Hermione said, walking up and tugging the older girl's sleeve. "It'd be best for you to stop laughing; people are starting to look at you, like you're completely mad."

"Hey Mum!" Fred called, walking proudly up to his mother. "You're just going to _love_ the pictures I've taken; Ronnie fell into the pool!"

Shortly after Fred came prancing into the lobby, Ron came in soaking wet and Mrs. Weasley groaned, "I don't think I've ever been this publicly humiliated before."

While Ron dried himself off, Mrs. Weasley went to the front desk and after apologizing over and over again for her sons' "rude" behavior, she picked up the room keys and handed them over to Ginny. While Ginny thumbed through them all, Harry walked over to Hermione.

"Hey Hermione," Harry greeted. "I'm really glad that all of you could make it."

"Harry, I wouldn't miss this for the world," Hermione replied, hugging him. "Although, you really didn't have to do-"

Harry held up his hand, "It's nothing; really. You and Ron are my best friends; besides, everybody who's in the wedding are getting their own rooms. Ginny's been arranging this thing nonstop and has almost every detail planned out; we even rented out the private pool on the roof until after the wedding-"

"_Pool_?" Janie asked excitedly.

Harry nodded, "It's a really big one too."

Janie's eyes sparkled, "There's more that one here? That's awesome!"

"There are beaches too-"

"I love you, Uncle Harry," Janie said, hugging him and then turned to her mother. "Can we go swimming later?"

"We'll see-"

"Janie!" Patrick exclaimed, waving his arms above his head, immediately sending Janie running off in his direction.

"You know," Harry started. "Ginny might have put your room right next to Patrick's-"

"What?" Hermione asked.

"I think so; so don't be too surprised if any loud booms wake you up during the middle of the night…I hope Fred and George don't have anything planned… You should have been there while Ginny discussed the hotel arrangements with her mother; it was funny."

"Only because you were upstairs with Ron, listening through a vent," Ginny said, pulling out three card keys.

"Here are your room's keys," she said, handing one to each Severus and Hermione. "I have one for Janie, but I don't know if you want her to have it. I would have gone with wand locks, but there are kids here, and they're not old enough to use their wands yet."

Hermione took the key and nodded, "If Janie was to get a key, it'll be after a long talk."

Ginny smiled, "You're just going to love your rooms; we decided to get just everybody who was in the wedding, suites-"

"Really?" Hermione asked.

Ginny nodded, "Yep."

---

"Ooo; I want one of those!" Janie said, as Hermione opened their door with her card key.

Hermione just smiled and pushed the door open, letting Janie in first.

"Potter and Ms. Weasley certainly went above-and-beyond again…but usually, it doesn't have a good purpose," Severus murmured and Hermione knew that he was right.

To the right of the door, sat a couch, table, and an armchair, which was all sitting before some kind of entertainment center; beyond that, divided by a short wall, was what looked like to be a small kitchen. Across the room from them, was a door and to then to their left was a round table, surrounded by two chairs, and then down a little way, were two more doors.

Janie had walked over to the entertainment center, with a wide smile on her face. There was a stand next to the center, with a small metal-looking box on the bottom, which immediately caught her eye.

"Aw cool; we have a mini-bar!" Janie exclaimed, after she had opened up the mini-fridge and the cabinet.

"Don't touch it!" Severus and Hermione said at the same time, making Janie's hand freeze in the air.

Severus walked over and took the Pumpkin Pastries out of Janie's hand and put it back where it had belonged and then closed both the doors. When Severus had looked back down, Janie was already gone.

"I call this room!" Janie exclaimed, from one of the rooms. "You know, why can't I have a bed this big?" She asked her parents, as she started jumping on the bed.

As Janie continued to jump higher on the bed, she almost hit her head off of the ceiling, while her parents stood watching her, both with their arms crossed.

"Janie, what happened the last time when you tried jumping on the bed?" Hermione asked.

"When you caught me?" Janie asked, doing a flip in the air. "I fell off the bed."

"And then what happened?"

"I landed on the floor," she replied, doing a twist in the air. "And broke my arm."

"Then why are you doing it now?" Hermione asked.

"I wouldn't have fallen, if you hadn't yelled," Janie said, jumping onto the floor and slipped, but luckily kept her balance.

"Oh my God," Hermione said, as she covered her eyes and left the room.

"Aww man; I picked the wrong room!" Janie said, right after she opened the other room's door. "This one's totally nicer than the other…I feel cheated."

"Janie?" Ginny called, poking her head into the room.

"Hi Ginny!" Janie exclaimed.

"We're all going down to the beach in a few minutes, to check it our; you're more than welcomed to come," Ginny said cheerfully.

Janie turned around to face her parents with sparkling eyes, "Can we go; please?"

"Of course, she has to ask Janie," Hermione mumbled, stealing a quick glance at Severus. "Sure; just get your things ready and we can go-"

"Thanks Mum," Janie exclaimed, running into her room, and loudly shut the door, while Severus left the room to change; not even three minutes later, Janie was completely ready.

"I don't even know why we have to go; there's going to be plenty of supervision down there," Severus remarked, as they left their room.

"Do you really want her to be supervised by Fred and George?" Hermione countered.

"Absolutely not, but Lupin will mostly be down there and although Potter may appear to be a complete and utter dunderhead at times, I doubt that he will let anything bad ever happen to Janie," Severus said. "Or is there another reason as to why you made him her godfather?"

"I don't know whether I should take that as a compliment or an insult," Harry said from behind them, while Hermione looked appalled at Severus's last comment. "As for the godfather part, I still find myself questioning her judgment at times, but you're right on one thing, Professor; I would _never_ let anything bad happen to Janie, ever."

Severus nodded his head and as he went to reply, Hermione clearly cut him off, to change the subject, "So Harry; where's Ginny?"

"Ginny had to make sure that she was one of the first people out on the beach, even though we've already spent an entire day here, going over all the plans," Harry said, smiling.

"Yes, but this is your's and her's _big_ weekend; it's almost completely different," Hermione supplied.

"See," Harry said, leaning over towards Snape's ear. "I still can't understand the way they think."

"It gets harder as you go along; especially around the holidays," Severus replied.

Hermione turned around, "I heard that."

"You know," Harry began. "I don't think that it's our problem, I think that it's them, who have to become clearer with what they want."

_Merlin; I can't believe he just said that_, Severus thought.

"No we don't," Hermione defended, sounding offended, pressing the "down" button on the elevator.

"I couldn't even figure out what to get you at first, for Christmas; you're so fickle," Severus said.

"I am not-"

"All I could think of to get you was a year's supply of chocolate, which would have only lasted you a few months," he added, stepping into the elevator.

"Where'd Janie go?" Harry asked, finally noticing that she wasn't with them anymore.

"Took the stairs," Hermione said absentmindedly, turning back to Severus. "You were going to get me chocolate? See, I'm clear in getting across what I want," Hermione said. "I'm glad that I didn't get the chocolate though; the necklace is so much better," she finished, as the elevator's doors opened up.

"What took you guys so long?" Janie asked. "Patrick and I have been down here waiting forever."

"How did you get down here so fast?" Harry asked. "We're all the way towards the top of the hotel…"

"I don't want to know," Hermione said.

"The railings," Janie stated simply. "Patrick has gotten so much better; I think he's been practicing," Janie added proudly.

"See; I really didn't need to know that," Hermione said, as she opened the hotel's front doors and looked around.

"Harry, I just realized something; where are all the reporters?" Hermione asked.

Harry smiled, "They think that the wedding is back by Hogwarts. If they figure out that they've actually have been fooled, the hotel manager has agreed that he will not let any reporters near the wedding; we don't really want any publicity."

Hermione nodded, "Neither would I; luckily though, the reporters aren't as bad as they were during the war. What are you going to do for the wedding pictures?"

Harry's smiled broadened, "Remember the Creevy brothers? Well, Colin now owns his own photography studio, Creevy Enterprises, and I hired him and Dennis. They may be annoying at times, but their pictures are absolutely amazing."

"I think they sent me a business card one day; it was a busy week, so I really didn't pay too mich attention to it," Hermione replied, and then turned towards Severus. "I think I've found the photographer for our wedding-"

"If that boy still thinks that popping up out of nowhere and flashing a camera in your face is photography, then I have other plans," Severus replied, stepping onto the sidewalk.

"When are you getting married; if you don't mind me asking," Harry questioned.

"After school gets out – sometime in June preferably, but if not, then July will work just as well," Hermione replied, looking around for any sign of Ginny or Janie. "How far did they go down, anyways?"

"Far enough where there are probably aren't a lot of people." Harry said.

"There's hardly anybody out here now," Severus stated.

"Here; on the other side of the hotel is where a lot of the people are – I believe that there are a lot more lifeguards down there…"

"_Lifeguards_?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "it's some safety regulation, even though we are all witches and wizards."

"That's probably what they're afraid of," Severus said. "People being drowned, because of someone cursing someone else, while they're underwater."

"There they are!" Hermione exclaimed, pointing at Ginny.

"Thank God; my feet are really starting to hurt," Harry said.

"That's what you get for wearing those…_flip-flops_?" Hermione asked. "Since when do you wear those?"

"Since Ginny took me shopping," Harry mumbled.

Severus gave Hermione a warning look, "If you packed me any of those, you'll be sleeping with Janie-"

"Woah!" Harry said. "My ears! I don't need to know who sleeps with who! That's _way_ too much information!"

"If you will just let me finish my sentence, Potter-"

"And you're telling me that you and Ginny-"

"_Hermione_! Please!" Harry exclaimed.

Hermione looked at him quizzically, "Get your mind out of the gutter, Harry; that's not what I was going to ask you."

Harry's face started to turn a dark red, when a bright flash blinded the three of them.

"That was priceless," Fred said. "I thought that I'd never see those looks again! And don't worry; there will be copies for everybody who wants them!"

"Please don't tell me that you go me in the picture too," Hermione groaned.

"If I said 'no,' then it wouldn't be very honest of me," Fred said, disappearing back onto the beach.

"Great; that means that he got me too," Severus replied, rather ungratefully.

Hermione smiled, "You'd better get used to it; we're taking pictures at the wedding."

"I'm only taking pictures at _our_ wedding," he corrected.

Hermione stopped walking, "Severus Snape, you're going to be in pictures, whether you like it or not; there are absolutely no pictures with the three of us together and I…want…them," Hermione stated, poking his chest between the last three words and then started walking again.

"What are you looking at?" Severus snapped at Harry, who was staring blankly at him.

"Er; nothing, Professor," he said as Snape pushed passed him.

---

"Please?" Janie whined.

"Not now," Hermione replied, from her position on the beach.

Janie looked upset for a brief moment, before turning towards her father, "Please…_Daddy_?"

"No," Severus replied instantly.

"Oh, c'mon!" The young girl exclaimed.

"Hermione, come play with your daughter," Ginny yelled from a distance.

Hermione shook her head, "Last time I tried, you both turned around and tried to pull a prank on me; it's not going to happen."

Janie folded her arms, while Ginny started to swim forwards.

"C'mon Hermione, you can drag yourself away from Snape for just a little while; it's not like you're not going to see him later," Ginny said.

Hermione shook her head, "I'm comfortable exactly where I am and I'm just finally starting to dry off, from you two."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Fine; have it your way then," she said and walked out of the water and over to her belongings, briefly stopping to whisper something to Fred, who quickly turned the flash off on his camera and hid somewhere close to Severus and Hermione.

"Ginny," Hermione said worriedly, after the younger witch pulled her wand out. "Ginny no-"

"_Windardeum Leviosa_!" Ginny said and flicked her wand at Hermione.

As soon as Hermione felt herself being lifted up into the air, she started screaming.

"Severus! Ginny, stop! Sever-" Hermione stopped as Severus quickly wrapped his arms around her, trying to keep her on the ground.

"So the counter-charm!" Hermione exclaimed at Severus.

"sure; I'll just let go of yo-"

"_No_!" Hermione blurted out, as Severus also left the ground and immediately let go of her.

"_Severus_!" Hermione shrieked, frantically trying to grab him.

"I'd help you, but I'm _not_ going into the water; have fun, Hermione," he said and gave her a little wave.

Hermione gave a frustrated growl, but it was soon silenced as Ginny flicked her wand and sent her flying into the water; Severus following shortly after.

As soon as Severus and Hermione's heads popped out of the water, they heard Ginny's voice, "Oh my God; Snape's still alive!"

If looks could kill, Ginny would have been well over ten feet under, from the looks that both Severus and Hermione were giving her.

"Aw; you did end up deciding to come and play with me!" Janie exclaimed, swimming over. "Let's see…what to do first? Ooo; we can play a game, or we can see how long I can hold my breath under water…_or_, we can build a sandcastle!"

Severus looked wearily over at Hermione, "Or, you can play tag or teach your 'adopted' brother how to swim."

Janie looked at the shore, "Naw; Patrick's dad is trying to teach him how to swim – I want to spend time with you guys. Now," Janie said, grabbing her father's hand and started pulling him towards the sandy shore. "I want to build a sandcastle…a _huge_ sandcastle."

---

"She doesn't even care anymore," Severus commented dryly, over an hour later.

"And yet you keep shaping that doorway," Hermione replied, after Janie had run off to play catch with Harry and Ron.

"And you're adding another tower," he shot back, taking out his wand.

"What are you-" Hermione stopped when Severus made a sweeping motion with his wand and finished the sandcastle.

"Professor!" Harry shouted, making Severus whip around and see a Frisbee flying right at him and Janie running at full speed towards their castle; her eyes apparently everywhere but in front of her.

"Janie!" Hermione exclaimed, as Severus reached up and caught the Frisbee with his hand; Janie looked up just in time to run right into her father and almost fell over, had it not been for the hand that reached out and grabbed her.

"Watch…the…castle," Severus said warningly.

"Woah," Janie said, finally looking at the completed castle. "You finished it! It looks so cool; hey, there are even moving sand people!"

Hermione smiled, "Nifty little charm; isn't it?"

Janie eagerly nodded, "Yeah, it is. Hey Dad, want to throw the Frisbee back? I wasn't to see Harry and Ron try and catch it."

Severus smirked evilly.

"Severus," Hermione began tiredly. "Don't-"

"Awesome!" Janie said, as her father threw the object and it sent Harry and Ron running. "Thanks, Dad!" Janie exclaimed and ran off.

"You didn't have to throw it that far," Hermione said, her arms now crossed.

Severus smirked, "Janie asked."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Besides, with all that eating that Weasley does, he could use the exercise-"

"He's not unfit!" Hermione defended.

Severus quirked an eyebrow, "Are you looking at other men now?"

"No-"

"I got it!" Ron exclaimed, as he jumped up and caught the Frisbee and on his way down, he plowed right into Snape.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, after the two went down, right on top of the sandcastle.

"My sandcastle!" Janie shouted, earning an "oh-please" look, from her mother.

"Ron, get off of him!" Hermione shouted. "You already knocked the wind out of him and now you're suffocating him," Hermione said, grabbing his hand and pulling him up.

"Uh-oh," Ron whispered, as soon as he realized who he had landed on.

"Weasley," Severus growled.

"Why is it _always_ me?" Ron whined to no one in particular, but made sure that it wasn't loud enough for Hermione…or Snape to hear. After muttering a quick apology, Ron quickly started inching away in the opposite direction.

"Oh no you don't, Uncle Ron," Janie said, running off after him. "You just ruined my sandcastle!"

"Never mind your father," Hermione commented.

"_Her_ sandcastle? She left us to go and play catch," Severus said.

"She did that once with homework – only it was to watch a movie. I was showing her how to do something and when I looked back up, she was on the couch, with the remote in her hand," Hermione shared with him.

"I remember Harry and Ron doing something like that, back in Hogwarts to you," Ginny said, after she had walked up to the pair. "If they did that to me, I would have brought them back and chained them to the chair – or glue; whichever one seemed better at the moment."

"You could have avoided it all, by not helping them in the first place," Severus added.

"Yes, but it would take all the fun out of gluing their butts to chairs and watching their reactions," Ginny said with a smile. "So, did you like your rooms?"

Hermione nodded, "They're lovely."

"I'm glad you like them; wait until you see the bathroom," Ginny replied. "It's huge! Anyways, there are three things that I need to go over with the both of you; first, there's the mini-bar-"

"The first thing that Janie found," Hermione mentioned.

Ginny smiled, "It's free; the hotel manager was so thrilled that 'the famous Harry Potter,' as he put it, has decided to have his wedding at their hotel that the mini-bars, among other things, are free.

"Then, I bet you're wondering why there's an entertainment center in your rooms – it's for Janie; she has to be able to keep herself occupied if she's stuck in your rooms, like tomorrow. Tomorrow is Harry's bachelor party and my bachelorette party, which won't be until later, so I thought that you and I could go shopping for a little while before it," Ginny said, looking hopefully at Hermione.

Hermione looked at Severus, who motioned for her to go ahead, "I promised Janie that we could spend the day together anyways; she wanted to see more of the islands."

"Awww, Severu- wait," Hermione stopped. "_All _day?"

He nodded.

"But I thought you were going to Harry's party; I told him-"

"It's alright," Ginny butted in, earning two sets of raised eyebrows. "You see, we've actually run into a slight problem – there's nobody to watch Patrick and we don't…_Katie_ doesn't trust any of the other kids, beside Janie, to watch him. It would be really nice Professor, if you and Janie could watch from when the parties start, until Katie or my Mum comes back; I wouldn't trust George to be 'able' enough to watch him."

Seeing his only opportunity and deciding that it probably wouldn't be to hard to watch over the boy, Severus agreed.

"Yes! Thank you so much, Professor; now Katie can go," Ginny said joyfully. "Could you both please excuse me? I need to go and tell her."

As soon as Ginny was out of earshot, Hermione turned to Severus, "For a moment there, I thought that she was going to hug you."  
Severus looked out of the corner of his eyes to make sure that the Weasley girl hadn't changed her mind. "So did I," he admitted.

---

After everyone had left for the parties, Janie had gotten her father to take her and Patrick to a small restaurant, where they could either eat along the beach or go inside and eat with an array of tropical fish; Severus didn't have to guess which one the two would pick.

Getting Patrick to eat was an entire task of its own, because the small boy was so intent on watching all the colorful fish swim around and completely ignored Janie, who was wagging a mozzarella stick in front of his face.

"Patrick," Janie said. "Don't you want a cheese stick? Patrick!"

Patrick's head snapped away from the tank that they were currently sitting next to, "So'wy Janie; what's a cheese stick?"

Janie smiled widely and handed him the appetizer, warning him not to burn his mouth while eating it.

Dinner was finally nearing its end and Severus had just given into letting Janie and Patrick have dessert, to avoid a waterworks display, courtesy of Patrick Weasley. Janie had gotten Patrick all excited over a brownie that was shaped like a whale and if he had denied the small boy the treat, there would have definitely been a scene (for his eyes had already started to shine as Severus started to say 'no'), and the last thing that Severus wanted to do, was to cause a scene. Although, he did have to suppress a small laugh when Patrick started to eat his cheese stick, until the boy learned that the cheese stretched and started playing with it. Janie was laughing so hard at the small boy's facial expressions, which only encouraged him, and to get Patrick to properly eat his food again, Severus had ended up promising the two that after their meal, they could go and feed the fish.

Nearly two hours later, the three were finally on their way back to the hotel; Patrick was chasing Janie around with his new, huge, stuffed, animal shark, while Severus walked behind them, keeping a close eye on the two, seeing as it was now getting dark. Not that he would actually tell anyone, but Severus didn't have that bad of a time with the two, but he was glad that they were finally walking back to the hotel.

While Patrick was feeding the fish (which had also consisted of baby sharks and sting rays), he leaned a little too far over the ledge and nearly fell in; luckily, Janie had screamed and gotten the staff member's attention, while Severus's quick reactions enabled him to grab the boy, before falling into the water.

Then, by three different people (the waitress, fish-feeding staff member, and a complete stranger), Severus had been complimented on what "cute," "adorable," and "lovely" children he had. By the second time he was complimented, Janie had gotten the idea to play along, by giving Patrick a small hug and replied in a sweet voice, "Isn't he?" When the third person had said something, Severus beat Janie to the punch by responding with something along the lines of, "Now, if only they would ever behave themselves." As soon as the lady had smiled and turned away, Janie had done an excellent impersonation on her father's glare and earned a smirk in return.

Back at the hotel, Janie and Patrick were given the choice of either swimming or watching a movie, and to Severus's pleasure, they were both too tired to go swimming, meaning that the movie had won out. Before Janie had left with her father for the day, they took a trip back to Hermione's house, where Janie had loaded her arms with a ton of movies, making sure to bring some for Patrick to watch.

"What's this one?" Patrick asked, holding up one of Janie's DVDs.

"You wouldn't really like that," Janie replied, briefly looking up to see what he was holding.

"This one has a huge boat in it!" Patrick exclaimed, holding up another movie.

Janie looked up, "I don't think that you would really like that; it's not _really_ all about the boat. Besides, you're too young and I highly doubt that my dad will let us watch it anyways and I don't want my mum to walk in while we're watching it; she cries every time at the ending."

Severus walked up behind Patrick and read the back of what he was holding, "Your mother lets you watch this?"

"Yeah, but she tells me to close my eyes at certain parts," Janie said, as Patrick put the DVD back into the pile.

Finally, the two had decided on their movies and because there was nothing else to do, Severus had been stuck watching it with them. The movie that Janie had picked was actually entertaining and was filled with action; something that he was surprised about. Patrick's however, was a little more geared towards his age and Severus soon found himself asleep, halfway through the movie. Due to the fact that her father was sleeping, Janie knew that he had no control over what movie they watched next and took the opportunity by putting on a scary movie (one that her mother would never let her watch), after Patrick's movie was over.

As she was watching the movie, she could tell why her mother would never let her watch it and when she went to turn it off, Patrick hastily told her "no." After watching the movie for a little while longer, Janie became glued to the television screen (periodically covering her eyes with her hands) and completely lost track of time, until her mother came home.

Hermione had entered quietly with Katie, unbeknownst to Janie, until she had shut the door and turned the lights back on. Apparently, Hermione shut the door at a point in the movie that was scary, because Janie screamed and when the lights went back on, she took a pillow off of the couch and put it over her head.

The scream had immediately awakened Severus, who flew upwards at an amazing speed, annoyed Patrick, and called Hermione's attention to the movie that as now being played.

"Severus!" Hermione exclaimed, as Janie ran up to her mother and hugged her.

"What!?" He asked, in a confused anger.

"Why are they watching that scary movie?"

"What scary mo-" Severus stopped when he saw what was being displayed on the television and gave the movie an ugly look. "I didn't say they could watch that!"

"You were supervising them!" Hermione said, giving him a nasty glare, making Janie quickly run back to the couch.

As soon as Katie saw what was being played, she hastily turned the television off, getting a foul look from her son.

"Hey!" Patrick shouted. "I was watching that!"

"Not anymore," his mother said. "Weren't you scared watching that?"

"No, but Janie was; she kept covering my eyes with her hand too," Patrick replied.

"Thanks Patrick," Janie grumbled.

"I fell asleep!" Severus defended. "Last time I checked that wasn't a crime. They only picked out _two_ movies: one with pirates and the other was a cartoon; I've never even seen the third one before _and_ I looked through them all."

Hermione's glare was immediately directed at Janie, "Janie Elise Snape!"

"Uh-oh; full name," Patrick whispered to Janie.

Janie cringed; she was in trouble now, "Yes?"

"How dare you take advantage of your father, while he's sleeping! You know better than that _and_ you knew better than to put that movie on! Now, I bet you're going to have nightmares!" Hermione reprimanded.

"No I won't," Janie said stubbornly.

"Remember that tonight, when I'm sure you're going to wake up during the middle of the night," Hermione said, looking sternly at her daughter.

"I won't have to remember it, because I'm not going to have any," Janie said, shocking both Katie and Severus with the way she responded to her mother, while Patrick pulled at her sleeve, whispering for her to stop.

"Janie-" her father started sharply.

"And what's worse is that you put the movie on, while Patrick was in the room!" Hermione said, clearly appalled with her daughter's decision.

"Auwnt 'Mione, I _liked_ the movie; it wasn' sca'wy," Patrick said, tugging on her hand. "An' it wasn't Uncle Sev-wus's fauwlt; he fell as'eep and Janie wanted to turn the movie off, but I said 'no.'"

Hermione crouched down so that she was level with sincere-looking boy, "It's alright Patrick; it's not your fault." Hermione turned her head towards Janie, "Janie knows better; right Janie?"

Janie hastily nodded, while Severus made a mental note to not anger Hermione for the rest of the trip; there was no way that he would be the one on the receiving end of her new-found quickly-changing attitude.

"Well," Janie began. "At least I didn't watch your favorite movie that you cry at them end of all the time; it has those…_scenes_ that my poor, little, virgin eyes can't bear to watch yet."

"Your eyes aren't pure anymore, especially after watching that – and I only saw a few seconds," Severus commented.

Janie crossed her arms and mentally sighed; she knew that she had definitely lost this one.

"I'm tired and going to bed," Janie announced to the room. "Goodnight Patrick; goodnight Katie," she said, before closing the door to her room. "Goodnight…Parents."

---

At three AM, Janie woke, twisted in her blankets and immediately fled from her room, being careful not to look at anything else. As she arrived at her parent's door, she almost ran into it, but found it just in time and pushed it open.

Quickly walking into the dark room, Janie almost tripped over her father's shows and then almost ran right into one of the wardrobes, before finally finding her mother.

"Mum," Janie said, shaking her mother's shoulders. "Mum; wake up!"

Hermione opened her eyes to see Janie intently staring at her and then narrowed them, "Nightmares?"

"You're alive!" Janie exclaimed in a whisper, throwing her arms around Hermione. "I had a dream that you were murdered by this scary man, and dad and I were looking all over for you…and then dad was taken too!"

"Janie?" Severus asked.

"Yeah?" She replied.

"We're fine; go back to bed."

"Severus!" Hermione scolded, turning around and smacking him on the shoulder.

Turning back around, Hermione was immediately cornered with one of the most-convincing puppy-dog eyes that Janie had ever given anybody.

Hermione sighed, "You don't have to go back to your room, if you don't want to."

"Thanks, Mum!" Janie whispered, giving her mother another hug and ran to the foot of the bed.

"If your father won't move over, then just push him out of the way; if he falls, then maybe he'll hit his head and gain some of his common sense back," Hermione said, as Janie started to climb up onto the bed.

---

The next day, Hermione went out shopping with Ginny, leaving Severus with Janie, on a rainy afternoon. After all of the kids ran around the hotel for nearly an hour, they finally became bored and started nagging the adults for something fun to do.

"Why don't you go swimming?" Mrs. Weasley suggested. "Harry reserved the pool on the roof-"

"But it's raining out," one of the kids interjected with.

"There are charms protecting the pool, so that you can go swimming; just as long as it's not lightening out, you'll be fine," Mrs. Weasley replied with.

The second after all of the children left to get ready, Mrs. Weasley stopped Severus, "Severus, could I ask you a for a small favor, please?"

Severus inwardly cringed; he knew what was coming, "Molly?"

"I need to run something by the manager for tonight; you wouldn't mind taking the children up to the pool and make sure that they don't kill each other? It would only be for a little bit; I'd have someone else go up with you, but it has been impossible to find anybody all day – it was lucky that I even caught you," Mrs. Weasley asked politely, with pleading eyes.

Severus sighed; he knew that he had no choice, "Alright, Molly."

"Thank you so much, Severus," she said, patting his shoulders in a very motherly way.

"Ready," Patrick exclaimed excitedly, bouncing up and down on the spot.

"Me too!" Janie replied, running to join them.

Severus raised his eyebrows at the two.

"Can we go yet?" Patrick asked enthusiastically, bouncing from one foot to the other.

"No; Michael's not here ye- there he is!" Janie said, pointing at Charlie's son.

As they were on their way to the elevator, Patrick looked up at Severus, "Thank you for taking us, Uncle Sev'wus."

Severus looked down at the small boy, as Janie pushed the "up" button for the elevator.

"You're welcome," Severus replied, getting a huge smile from the auburn-haired boy.

Following the rest into the elevator, Michael spoke for the first time to his Professor, outside of Hogwarts that didn't include some sort of greeting, "Why can't I call you 'uncle,' Professor? Patrick gets to call you 'uncle' and I get to call Professor Granger 'Aunt Hermione,' as long as were not considered 'in school.'"

Severus looked at the boy; he didn't know if he was being smart or serious, because the expression on his face wasn't very convincing.

"I hope this isn't a joke, Mr. Weasley," he replied.

"I mean, Janie gets to call you 'dad-'"

"That is an entirely different matter-"

"But Janie's practically like my cousin, so you'd be like my uncle. You call Patrick by his first name too; why do I have to be 'Mr. Weasley,' there are already too many 'Mr. Weasley's' out there," Michael said, stepping out of the elevator.

"You are my student-"

"Not-"

Severus shot Michael a warning look, "Mr. Weasley-"

Michael stared directly at his Potions Professor.

"Charlie Weasley's on; is that better?" Severus asked.

"Uncle Severus; does that work?" Michael shot back. In truth, he was really quite enjoying this, because normally, he would have _never _dreamed of doing this on a normal day, but there were no detentions or house points at stake and he found himself in an awfully good mood when he got out of bed this morning.

Janie looked at Michael through narrowed eyes; he never usually acted like this.

"Mr. Weasley, this discussion is over," Severus said, putting his room key into the door's lock and then opened the door, after it had clicked. "Go enjoy yourself, before I decide to take you back to your room."

---

It was well passed lunch, when Hermione and Ginny finally came back; their arms completely loaded down with bags, while Severus and "the Rat Pack" (as he so thoughtfully pawned them), were still at the pool.

"Don't you think it's about time that you got out of the pool?" Severus asked his daughter. "You're going to be a shriveled prune."

Mrs. Weasley had just left for the third time, leaving Severus to supervise the three again.

"I got out to eat lunch, and besides; the sun's finally just come out," Janie said, swimming on her back.

"And I doubt that you have any sun block on," Severus pointed out.

"I would be more concerned about yourself," Janie replied. "You're going to be burnt to a crisp – especially your arms; I bet they haven't seen sunlight in months," she said, earning a warning glare that came along with a verbal warning.

Janie was about to reply, when she saw her mother quietly coming through the door. When Hermione looked up and saw Janie, she put her finger up to her lips and continued to sneak up behind Severus, until she got right behind him, her arms out ready to push him into the pool.

"Don't you dare try to push me into the pool, woman," Severus said, without even turning around.

"Dam-" Hermione quickly covered her mouth as she looked at Patrick's wide eyes. "I mean darn!"

Severus rolled his eyes.

"How did you know that I was there?" Hermione asked, walking up to stand beside him.

"Janie was about to say something, but she looked at the door instead-"

SPLASH!

"Yes Mum; you got him!" Janie exclaimed joyfully.

When Severus resurfaced, Hermione crouched down right next to the pool's ledge, "And you were talking and not paying attention."

"And so are you," Harry said, as he pushed Hermione into the pool.

"HARRY!"Hermione spluttered, as soon as her head hit the surface, making Harry explode with laughter. "It's not funny, Harry Potter! Do you think this is fun?"

As Hermione continued on ranting, Severus rolled his eyes, walked through the water up to her, and dunked her head underwater; surprisingly, Harry had managed to stay on his feet laughing.

"You're not supposed to dunk me!" Hermione exclaimed, earning a smirk from Severus. "You're supposed to go and get Harry for me!"

"Why would I go and get him; you can walk," Severus replied, heading straight for the pool's stairs, until Hermione grabbed the back of his shirt.

"You're not going anywhere, unless it's to go and get Harry," she said, pulling him backwards.

"What?" Severus asked in disbelief.

"Aww," Janie said, swimming to her father and then latched onto his arm. Don't you want to have some fun?" Janie said innocently, motioning for Patrick to come and help her.

"Janie-"

"Please, Uncle Sev'wus?" Patrick asked, tugging on Severus's only open sleeve.

"Please, Professor?" Harry asked, mimicking Patrick's plea. "You don't want to upset them now, do you?"

Severus looked from Janie's puppy-dog eyes, to Patrick's bright and pleading ones, and then glanced at Hermione's expectant gaze, "If I say 'yes,' would you please all let go of me?"

Everybody immediately let go, except for Hermione, whose grip only tightened on the back of his waterlogged shirt.

"I thought you were going to let go," Severus remarked to Hermione.

"You haven't said 'yes' yet; for all I know, you'll walk right up the pool's stairs…you are a Slytherin, after all," Hermione countered.

Severus let out an aggravated sigh and grumbled, "Yes."

"Yay!" Janie exclaimed. "Now we can all play a game together!"

"I didn't agree-"

"Hey Uncle Harry, are you going to come in?" Janie asked.

Harry looked at her, "Sure, Jaz; just let me go and…never mind."

Harry walked over to one of the long sunbathing chairs, kicked his sandals off, and then took his shirt off, and threw it on the chair. Before long, he had jumped into the pool, making sure to splash all of its inhabitants.

After Harry had taken his shirt off and threw it to the side, Hermione turned to Severus.

"See," she said, motioning to the now-abandoned shirt. "Why can't you do that?"

He gave her a weary look, "Because-"

"Because why?" She interrupted.

"Because I don't have anything to stop myself from getting sunburn-"

"So? It would do you some good to get burned every once-in-a-while; it won't exactly kill you," Hermione replied.

"So," Janie started. "What game do you guys want to play? We can play catch, monkey-in-the-middle, or…_we can play chicken_!" She exclaimed, making a wide grin pop up on Harry's face.

Hearing Janie's enthusiastic and excited voice, Patrick exclaimed, "Yeah! I wanna play chicken! Let's play chicken!"

"You want to play chicken, Patrick?" Harry asked and the boy hastily nodded. "Alright then; let's play!"

"To make it fair…Mum, you can't go on dad's shoulders; you'll knock us all down," Janie said, quickly swimming over to her father. "I call dad this round!"

"_This_ round?" Severus asked.

"Yeah," Janie replied. "We have to play more than once!"

---

After Severus had been sucked into playing three rounds of chicken, Janie finally decided to get out of the pool, after Mrs. Weasley had collected Patrick and told Michael that he had to get out and start getting ready for the rehearsal dinner.

The dinner had gone smoothly, until Bill asked for someone to pass him a roll and Fred thought it would be a good idea to throw it, instead of passing it. Then, when Bill asked for butter, Charlie deemed it smart to throw that too. Surprisingly, Mrs. Weasley was in such a good mood, because her 'little girl was getting married,' that all she did was giver her children reprimanding looks. It wasn't until someone wanted some water, and Patrick went to throw a glass at them, did Mrs. Weasley finally put a stop to it.

After dinner, almost everybody decided to go to the bar, except for Patrick, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Severus, and Hermione; somehow, Hermione had been able to persuade Severus into doing something else.

"Please? It's not like anybody else is going to be up there; they're all busy and Harry _did_ rent out the entire rooftop," Hermione tried persuading, after Severus had started to question her idea of going up to the pool. "Mrs. Weasley even said that she and Arthur will come to our room with Patrick, so that he can watch movies with Janie. Please, Severus? Who knows when we'll be able to do anything like this again? It probably won't be until after school ends again…"

Hermione looked at him with bright, shining eyes and Severus suddenly remembered the previous night, "Alright."

Hermione's face immediately brightened with a wide smile, "Thank you so much! Now, I'll finally get to try out my new swimsuit!"

"New?" Severus echoed.

"Yeah; I bought it this morning," Hermione replied, walking into the bathroom. "I'll meet you up there," Hermione added. "There's something small that I have to take care of."

---

Just as Severus started to think that Hermione had somehow fallen down a flight of stairs, she walked through the roof's glass door, fully clothed.

"Please tell me that you have other clothing on, under that," Severus said, from the Jacuzzi.

"What, are you afraid that you'll be the only one in there?" Hermione asked.

"Afraid wouldn't be the word that I'd exactly use," Severus replied, grabbing his towel, which lay almost right next to him. "I'll give you a hint though; it starts with an 'a' and ends with a 'y.'"

"Oh lighten up, Severus; you really didn't think that I was going to walk up here in a towel and a bikini – if Janie saw that, then she would have been up here in two seconds," Hermione replied, taking out her wand. "Even if she saw the towel, she would have been up here; I had to make sure that my other suit was still where it was, in case she got the idea that we went to the pool without her."

"So where does she think we're at?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Out on the town; she has no idea that we're up here," Hermione replied, walking across the rooftop and into one of the changing houses, reappearing several moments later, with a towel wrapped around her.

"I hid a towel up here earlier, so that Janie wouldn't know," Hermione replied, after seeing Severus's questioning look.

"And you were already so sure that I'd agree to this?" Severus asked, as Hermione sat down on the ledge of the Jacuzzi.

"Not really, but if you said 'no,' then I was going to ask Ginny," Hermione said, taking off the towel and threw it on a chair behind her, earning a stare from Severus.

"Do you like it?" Hermione asked, turning a little. "I thought it looked just a _little_ too tight at first; except for the skirt. Ginny said that it looked fine and so did Katie; she came right before we went into the store. But then again, if Ginny had the choice, I'm sure that she would have no problem going to a clothes-less beach and Katie…well, she married George…So, do you like it? It's not too tight or anything; is it?" Hermione asked, giving him a hopeful stare.

He shook his head, "No; it looks fine."

Hermione smiled and pushed herself into the warm water, right across from him.

Severus raised his eyebrows, "Why didn't you decide to stay with the Weasleys'? I'm shocked that you're not down there, sharing stories or doing whatever else it is that you do with them."

A part of Hermione nearly froze, "It's going to be a long day tomorrow and a bit of relaxation seemed like a good idea."

"And that doesn't include having a drink in your hand; I'm shocked."

"_Severus-_"

"The Weasleys' are probably down there, re-creating the Gryffindor common room party, after they won the house cup, during your seventh year," Severus said dryly.

"Well, I'm not down there, because I would rather be with you," Hermione replied sincerely. "Everytime Harry, Ron, or Ginny is around; I don't need to spend every second with them. Besides, we're going to see everyone tomorrow anyways."

_That's a given_, Severus thought.

"I almost can't wait; it's been so long since I've seen some of them," Hermione said.

"Seen who?" Severus asked cautiously.

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you; Harry and Ginny have invited some of our old classmates-"

"They _what_?"

Hermione ignored his comment and continued on, as if she had never heard it, "I haven't spoken to some of them since I've left Hogwarts, especially Neville; I haven't seen him in years…I wonder how he's doing…"

Severus almost died, "Longbottom? _He's_ coming?"

Hermione nodded, "And he's bringing two other people with him."

By now, Severus was shocked that he wasn't dead yet, "_Two_? Meaning that he might have a _child_?"

Hermione shrugged, "I don't know, Severus. And then there's Seamus and Dean…I honestly haven't seen them…and Oliver-"

"_All_ of them are coming too?" Severus asked.

"Yeah," Hermione replied happily. "They've all sent back their reservations; Ginny told me this morning."

"Exactly how many of your old classmates are expected to attend?" Severus asked, his voice clearly evident that he wasn't going to like any answer that he would be given.

"Let's see…there's Harry's entire Quidditch team, before he became Captain, a good portion on the seventh-year Gryffindors; I know you're just going to love that. Then Ginny has some classmates coming; I think Justin's coming…and then, she invited _them_."

"Who?"

"Padma, Parvati, and _Lavender_; she invited Padma, Parvati, and Lavender," Hermione said in frustration, getting a questioning look. "Ginny said that she only invited them, because she didn't want them angry at her and then start spreading rumors about her and Harry," she finished, crossing her arms.

"And you would do the same thing," Severus commented.

Hermione looked appalled for a moment and then sighed, "Yeah; I guess probably would do something like that."

Severus smirked, "See."

Hermione smiled down at her hand and started to play with her ring, "I wonder how everybody will react tomorrow, when they find out."

"I was hoping that you wouldn't say anything about that, until it was actually the wedding," Severus said. "It's bad enough that I have to see everybody's stares and shocked expressions, when they find out that I'm actually _there_ and now, we get to suffer through their comments."

"Brighten up, Severus; you sound like you're going to be walking to your death," Hermione replied.

"I am."

"Not without me, you aren't, and I'm not going anywhere soon, so at least suck it up…for me," Hermione replied, adding the last two words kindly.

Apparently, it didn't matter how kindly Hermione had said the words, because Severus was still glaring at her.

"And I hope you don't mind it too much, because you'll be seeing a lot of them again, at our wedding," Hermione added.

"I-"

"On the count of three then…one…two…_three_!" A male's voice yelled and two blurs, one black and one red, ran right passed where Severus and Hermione were sitting.

"Don't forget to drop your towel!" One of the boys yelled, making Hermione's eyes go wide.

_I hope they're not drunk, because then Severus is going to kill them, when they get out of the pool_, Hermione thought to herself.

"_Cannonball_!" One of the voices yelled, shortly before two large splashes erupted from the pool.

When the heads of Harry and Ron resurfaced and took in their surroundings, they saw they weren't the only ones on the rooftop; Severus was glaring intensely at the two, with his arms crossed, while Hermione was turned around, looking at them, with an amused look on her face.

"Hi Hermione…Professor; we had wondered where you two had gone," Harry said a little awkwardly, while Ron was squinting over towards Hermione's direction.

"Hi Har-"

"_Bloody hell_, Hermione!" Ron said bluntly, continuing to stare at her. "_What _in the world are you wearing?"

Hermione blushed and went to look away, until Severus walked up next to her, "_Thank you_, Mr. Weasley; now, please stop staring at her like a hormonal teenager."

Feeling more confident, Hermione looked straight at Ron and crossed her arms, "It's none of your concern what _I_ wear; _I_ can wear whatever _I_ want."

"But you never wore anything like…that…before!" Ron said.

"Because I had Janie," Hermione said, shifting to lean against Severus. "And besides-"

"It's taken you twelve years, to fit into _that_?" Ron asked, clearly not thinking before he spoke again.

The words hadn't even finished leaving Ron's mouth, when Harry quickly covered his face with his hand. After Ron had said the words, there was a deathly silence that was finally broken by water moving.

"No Severus," Hermione said, pushing him back, away from the stairs. "_I'm_ going to kill him."

When Ron saw Hermione head for the stairs, he quickly started backing up, farther into the pool, "I didn't mean that!"

"Ron, you better hope that you suddenly become drunk, because you're not going to want to remember what I'm going to do with you!" Hermione said.

"Hermione, it was my mouth! You know that it has a mind of its own! Professor?" Ron said desperately.

"You're just lucky it's not me, Weasley," Severus replied, sitting back down, waiting to see what Hermione would do to her poor, unfortunate friend.

"Ah, see Minerva; it's right through these doors!" Hermione froze as soon as she heard the voice.

"Oh no," Hermione whispered.

"Oh my God," Severus said, with wide eyes.

"See; isn't that nifty? It's a card key! I think I might start making some of the rooms in my quarters only accessible by card key!" Dumbledore said, walking out onto the rooftop, accompanied by Professor McGonagall.

"_Oh my gods_!" Hermione exclaimed quietly, quickly making her way back to Severus, who wanted nothing more than to sink under the surface of the water.

As soon as Ron heard Dumbledore's cheerful voice and saw Hermione go running back to Severus, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God," he muttered.

Luckily for Severus and Hermione, the first person that the jolly, old wizard saw, was Harry.

"Harry!" Dumbledore called, waving his hand. "What a pleasure seeing you here! I was looking for you downstairs, to wish you good luck for tomorrow and no one had known where you had disappeared too."

"Maybe if we can hurry up, we can sneak behind them and leave, without them noticing us," Severus whispered.

"But I'm enjoying this," Hermione complained. "We'll be fine, as long as they stay away from us."

"If Dumbledore does come in here, you'll have nightmares; trust me…it isn't a fantastic sight to see," Severus whispered.

"Alright," Hermione said quickly, making a beeline for the stairs.

As Dumbledore continued on talking to Harry, a quick movement caught McGonagall's eye and she started to elbow Albus in his side, who merely just waved her off.

"Albus-"

"In a minute, Minerva," he replied.

Angry at Albus, McGonagall turned around and looked straight at the Jacuzzi, finally noticing something before her old friend, and she was going to let him know it too.

"Merlin; the boy can actually swim, Albus!" McGonagall exclaimed, making Hermione turn around and do a perfect impression of a deer caught in headlights.

Dumbledore looked up and saw Ron, immediately starting swimming on his back, "Wow; I finally didn't drown!" He exclaimed. "It's taken me _forever_ to learn how to do that!"

McGonagall rolled her eyes, "Not you, Weasley; _Severus_."

Dumbledore twirled around to look at McGonagall, "Severus is here? I didn't see him…"

McGonagall pointed right at him, earning her the glare-of-her-lifetime from him; meanwhile, Hermione quickly ran up and hid behind him.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked, out of the corner of his mouth.

"They can't see me in this yet; if Dumbledore sees you first, then all of the attention will be directed off of me," she whispered back.

"And what if I go underwater, as he turns his head?" Severus countered.

"Then I'll kill you," Hermione replied simply.

"Ah, Severus!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "I wouldn't have ever imagined you up here; especially on such a clear night as this," he said, putting his towel on a chair that was very close to Hermione's.

"Is Hermione out here as well?" McGonagall asked, looking around, as Hermione grabbed Severus's underwater hand. "I couldn't imagine you ever willingly coming out here alone."

"She's around here…somewhere," Severus replied.

"Come now, Minerva," Dumbledore said, beckoning her over to the pool. "Leave the boy alone; he's not asking you why you're out here," he said, looking at something behind Severus and Hermione and then smiled at the figure.

After Dumbledore had busied himself with talking to Harry and Ron about the wedding and how 'splendid it was to be attending two weddings this year,' Hermione decided to come out of "hiding,' when someone tapped her on the shoulder from the behind, scaring the wits out of her.

"Severus, who touched me?" She said, from her new position on his back.

"Hermione, get off of me; it was probably one of your friends," he said, turning around, to find Ginny Weasley crouching next to the water's ledge and silently laughing. "See; it's your girlfriend, so you can get off my back now."

Hermione looked up to see Ginny, "Oh! Hi Ginny," she said, letting go of Severus.

"Did I scare you?" Ginny asked, smiling.

"Just a little," Hermione said, making her way to where Ginny was. "Is everything alright? You're not wearing anything to go swimming with…"

"Everything's fine; I just came up here to talk to you," Ginny said, glancing at Harry.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Talk to me or watch Harry swim?"

Ginny blushed, taking her shoes off, "To talk to you, of course. I need to go over a small last-minute detail that I decided about a little while ago, with you" she continued, sticking her feet into the warm water.

"Alright," Hermione said, motioning for her to continue.

"Well, because you and Janie are in the wedding, it leaves Professor Snape out, and I felt bad about him being alone," Ginny said, looking at Severus.

"It's al-"

"I just pictured as if it were you and Harry involved in something and that left me sitting around people that I would not rather sit with, so I decided to do something about it; Harry agrees with me," Ginny said, now looking Severus right in the eye. "And we didn't tell you about it earlier, Professor, because you would have found some way to get out of it or not even have gone at all. So anyways, Harry has decided to make you a groomsman; that way, you can stand next to Hermione and Janie during the ceremony."

"He what-"

"You could have told me," Hermione said, feeling even happier than before.

Ginny smiled at her, "Then if he knew that you knew and didn't tell him, you both wouldn't be very happy right now."

"Who said I'm happy now?" Severus muttered, earning Hermione's elbow in his side.

"And if you want, you can even walk with Hermione down the isle, before I come out…" Ginny added.

"Yeah; that's exactly what we'll do," Hermione said, now brimming with happiness. "It'll just be like practice, for our wedding; except it'll be while we're walking out. Thanks Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, hugging her friend and getting her all wet in the process.

"Anytime...just please don't get me wet next time," Ginny said, taking out her wand and drying her shirt off.

Hermione smiled sheepishly, "Promise…at least as long as it's not on purpose."

Ginny glared at her friend and splashed her, getting Severus wet in the process. "Sorry, Professor," she said, when she saw the look on his face. "Well, I better get going now; I promised my mum that I would run something by her one more time, before it gets too late."

"Is she still with Patrick and Janie?" Hermione asked.

"Last time I checked, she was so into the movie that they were watching, she was yelling at the television," Ginny replied. "My dad was more set on asking how the films were made and how the television worked; I cannot believe how many times he can ask the same questions…the ones about the card key are _still_ being asked. Well, goodnight Hermione; goodnight, Professor," Ginny said, grabbing her shoes and then walked back inside.

Hermione walked over and sat down next to Severus, with a wide smile on her face, "I can't wait until tomorrow."

_At least someone can_, he thought, as Hermione put her head on his shoulder.

**A/N: If anybody is interested, the website for the story is up so far, and the link is located in my profile, under the homepage. On there is a cover, some information on the next part of the chapter (this part is under the "cover" section and is a powerpoint slide), among some other things that I have up so far. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far; it's really appreciated...I never really thought that I would ever reach 400! So a HUGE thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story so far...thanks!**


	26. Chasing Lives P2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I making any money off of it; J.K. Rowling owns it all.**

**A/N: Again, I'm sorry that it has taken so long to get this chapter out; I had originally planned for it to come out over a month ago, but there were several setbacks - school being a major one. So, here's chapter 24, part two (sorry if there are any misplaced or missing periods; my key has been sticking, even after I tried cleaning it out.)**

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* * *

_Last chapter: _**

Hermione walked over and sat down next to Severus, with a wide smile on her face, "I can't wait until tomorrow."

_"At least someone can,"_ he thought, as Hermione put her head on his shoulder.

---

The next morning, Severus was awakened very early, due to someone knocking at the front door. Swinging the door open, he was met with the sight of one of the staff members, who had an owl perched on his shoulder.

"Mr. Snape?" The man questioned.

"Yes-" Severus didn't even get to finish his sentence, because as soon as the bird had heard his one word confirmation, the bird flew right into the room.

"Sorry for waking you up, sir," the man apologized, seeing Severus' disheveled state. "But seeing as it is the morning of Mr. Potter's wedding, the shields around the hotel have been put up to full force, and the wards caught the owl trying to get through one of your windows. We would have saved the letter until morning, but the owl was very insistent that you received it now; he kept pecking the staff downstairs, until he was told we would deliver the letter immediately.

"Sorry again, sir, and we hope that you enjoy the rest of your stay here," the young man said, turned around, and started walking away.

After the polite man had turned a corner, Severus shut the door and retreated to the kitchen-like, rudely grabbing the letter from the large, brown owl on his way. Turning on a dim light, he looked the letter over and saw that it was addressed to him, in an oddly familiar handwriting that he could not place for the life of him. Severus turned around when he heard the sound of flapping wings and to his disappointment, the owl didn't head to the window, but instead landed on the chair next to him.

_Great,_ he thought, tearing open the envelope. _They want a reply_, he added, unfolding the letter and then nearly dropped it on the floor.

"_Merlin_!" Severus muttered out loud. "The woman is _still _alive; I thought she was dead!"

_Dear Severus,_

_I know that I haven't been very good at keeping up with you, but I haven't heard from you in years! The last time I talked to you, was when I came up to that school and shocked you with my presence_; _you looked like you saw a bloody ghost…and that was only a few years ago_!

_A few years ago? _Severus thought. _It was more like _six.

_Traveling has kept me very busy and probably, knowing you, because you haven't heard from me in a long time, I bet you think I'm dead_;_ I'm not daft, Severus_. _I hope this is your excuse as to why you haven't written to me_. _Well Severus, I'm alive and as healthy as ever…and I'm coming to visit you, but I'm going to let you pick the date…or at least agree on one_. _You could have at least _tried _to write to me, you know_;_ owls _are_ intelligent_. _Well, I really must be going now_; _the train has finally stopped_. _I look forwards to seeing you again_; _take care, Severus._

_Love,_

_Your Mother_

_P.S. And Severus, I am coming_; _whether you like it or not_.

"Oh no," Severus groaned, letting the letter fall open, onto the table; not only was his mother undeniably coming, but he had yet to mention anything about Hermione or Janie to her.

_This is just _great. _Not only have I not written to her about the engagement, but I've also failed to mention that I has an eleven-year-old granddaughter_; _it's going to be _such_ a pleasurable day_, Severus thought, summoning a piece of parchment and a quill.

_Dear Mother,_

_I'm sorry that I haven't written you in a while, but just like you, I've been really busy_; _so I guess we're both at blame here_. _It has been a while and a lot has happened…I can't explain it all in this letter_; _you'll have to hear it when you come_. _So you're prepared not to prepare any speeches for me or thinking to tell me about anybody, I have met a nice girl and things are going very well_. _I'm going back to bed now…your bloody bird delivered this in the _middle_ of the night_. _Seeing as we have a lot to talk about, just owl me the dates that you have in mind (and I _know_ that you have them, so just send them) and we'll go from there_.

_-Severus_

_P.S. Don't bring anybody or any_thing_ that you have met on your trips_; _I _don't_ want any pets nor do I have any wish to met any "fascinating" people that you have met on your trips…however, if you happened to stumble upon any ingredients, they're more than welcomed…_

As soon as he was done writing the letter, Severus quickly sealed the parchment, opened the window, and was happy to see the owl finally fly off into the distance, with the letter tied securely to his leg. Once he shut the window, he turned off the kitchen lights, and retreated back to his room, only to find Hermione missing and the bathroom door shut.

"Hermione?" He called, knocking quietly at the door.

"What?" Came a muffled voice.

"Are you alright?"

"Why?" Hermione replied, a little too quickly for Severus' liking.

"It's God only knows what time out," he said, glancing at the clock. "Well, it's nearly four-thirty in the morning and you're in the ba-"

"If you hadn't moved, then I would still be alright…it was just about to go away…"

"Hermione, are you sick?" Severus asked, not getting an answer. "Hermione? If you're sick, I can at least help you," he offered, still not getting an answer. It wasn't until he heard her wand hit the floor, did he decide to take matters into his own hands.

Taking out his own wand, Severus tried to unlock the door, but Hermione was one step ahead of him and had warded the door.

"If you're alright, then why did you lock the door?" Severus asked and whispered several countercharms, until he heard the door click open.

When the door opened, he cautiously looked through the door, and when he couldn't see anything, he pushed the door open, to see that the only source of light was coming from a dimly-lit candle.

Right as his hand landed on the light switch, he heard Hermione's hoarse voice, "Please don't turn the lights."

"Hermione…where are you?" Severus asked, bringing his hand back to his side and switched his wand back to his other hand.

"Where do you think I am?" Hermione asked tiredly, as Severus lit a quick _Lumos_ with his wand.

As soon as Severus saw her, his face immediately softened; Hermione was sitting against the wall that was next to the toilet, with her knees tightly brought up to her chest and her head was cradled in her arms.

"Why did you lock the door, if you were only sick; I could have helped you," Severus said, crossing his arms.

Hermione briefly lifted her head, just enough to glance at him and then put it back down into the safety of her arms.

"Hermione…" Severus said softly, crouching don in front of her. Sighing slightly, he looked at her, "Are you still sick from around the time you ate that box of chocolate?"

Hermione nodded, "I think something I ate with Ginny made it resurface…"

Severus looked at her critically, "If it's been going on for more than a few days, I doubt-"

"I really do think it's something I ate; I felt fine before," Hermione added quietly, as Severus continued to stare at her skeptically.

"If you're like this now, I doubt that you'll be going later-"

"No!" Hermione exclaimed hoarsely, snapping her head up and then quickly grabbed it. "I have to go," she added more calmly.

"No you don't," Severus countered.

"I have a responsibility to Ginny," Hermione said meekly.

"And you have a responsibility to yourself first," Severus replied. "Miss Weasley will understand."

"You just don't want to go," Hermione shot back.

"You're right; I don't want to go, but if you can't, then somebody has to be with Janie," he replied.

"Severus…" Hermione said, tears starting to silently roll down her cheeks.

"You need to go back to bed," Severus said, reaching down to pick her wand up, got up, and then extended out a hand for her to use.

Hermione tried reaching out for his hand, before dropping her arm and then put her head down, gently shaking it from side to side.

Severus looked down at her with concerned eyes and carefully bent down and picked her up, "You still have a few more hours to sleep, until we decide if you can go or not."

Instead of making an effect to argue back, Hermione just merely wrapped her arms around Severus' neck and rested her head on his chest. Severus definitely knew that Hermione didn't feel well, because when he laid he down on the bed, her arms just fell from around his neck and when he sat down on the other side, she immediately shifted to use him as a prop. Whispering a quick spell, Severus extinguished the candle in the bathroom and then slipped his and Hermione's wands underneath his pillow.

---

"Are you sure?" Severus asked, at a quarter-to-seven that morning.

"Yes; I'm positive. I took those potions that you gave me and I feel fine," Hermione replied. "Seriously, Severus; I feel perfectly fine – just like any other day," Hermione added, seeing as Severus didn't look too convinced.

Severus was about to reply, when he heard a knock at the door, followed by Janie's voice.

"I got it!" Janie exclaimed, as Severus left the bedroom and walked up to the door. "Uncle Harry's here-" Janie yelled, turning around to come face-to-stomach with her father, who reached over her head for the door.

"Hi Professor," Harry greeted. "Janie, Patrick wanted to show you something really quick; he's in his room right now, waiting for you."

"Really?" Janie asked happily.

Harry nodded.

"Alright; thanks, Uncle Harry," Janie replied, ducking under her father's arm and out the door.

"Did you only come over here to speak with Janie?" Severus asked.

"Umm, no; I actually need to ask Hermione something," Harry replied.

"She's not feeling very well right now," Severus responded, walking forwards, so that he blocked the doorway, in hopes that Harry would go away.

"What? Is she alright? Does she need anything?" Harry asked, pushing right passed his Professor.

"Potter, she's not feeling up to any company or silly questions," Severus stated, blocking off the young man's way again.

"Now you're making me worry," Harry said, trying to move around the couch, but Severus had blocked him there too.

"This isn't a game, Potter," Severus said, after Harry had tried a few more times to get around the couch and passed him. "No, woul-"

Severus stopped short as he saw Harry stand up straight and wave, "Hey Hermione!"

"What?" Severus asked, as he turned around, only to find nobody, while Harry ran right passed his other side.

Luckily for him, Severus had turned around just in time to grab the back of Harry's button-up over-shirt with his left hand and with his right, he cast a quick _Muffliato_ on Hermione's room.

"This…is…no…fair, Professor; I…just want to see…if my…friend is…alright," Harry said, still trying to run, as Severus switched his hands on Harry's shirt.

"I already told you-" He stopped short however, because Harry had somehow slipped out of his top shirt and ran right at Hermione's door.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed and flung the door open.

It was clearly apparent that her ears were still filled with the infamous buzzing from the _Muffliato_, because she didn't make any indication that she knew Harry was in the room and continued right on with what she was doing. The first thing Harry saw when he flung the door open, was a sky-blue bottle sitting on her dresser, which he momentarily narrowed his eyes at. However, as soon as he saw Hermione, his hands flew over his eyes to cover them.

"Oh my God," Harry said, as he went to turn around, but ran into Snape instead.

"Potter-" he growled in anger, but all words immediately ceased when his eyes landed on Hermione.

Hermione was standing next to the room's bed, with a pair of jeans on and her shirt over her head; luckily for Harry, she had her undergarments on. It wasn't until Hermione had thrown the shirt down on the bed and reached over for her new one, had she noticed who was standing at the door and immediately recognized the familiar buzzing in her ears.

After the pure look of shock on Hermione's face was replaced with a dark glare, she picked up her old shirt and threw it at Severus, while quickly covering herself with the clean one.

"Severus!" Hermione shouted at the gaping wizard, and then quickly did the counter-charm for the spell.

"It was an accident, Hermione; I swear!" Harry exclaimed.

"Get out!" Hermione yelled in frustration, using her free hand to point at the door and Harry immediately turned around to leave, but ran into Severus again.

"You heard her, Potter," Severus said, shoving him out of the room. "Get out," he said, closing the door in the younger wizard's face, only to turn around with a ravenous look in his eyes.

On the other side of the door, Harry was standing stock-still and staring blankly at the door, until it opened and Hermione pushed Severus out.

"You too!" Hermione shouted, slamming the door in his face, making Harry's blank face turn into one of amusement, which quickly disappeared when Snape glared at him.

"It's _not_ funny," Severus sneered, walking away from Harry.

"Wait, Professor; where are you going?" Harry asked.

"To take a shower," he replied. "Not that it's any of your business," he added, walking into the bathroom and then shut the door, while Harry sat down on the couch to wait for Hermione.

---

It was amazing that out of all the people invited to the wedding, only a few couldn't make it. Before the wedding had started, it was like a Hogwarts' reunion in the lobby, with everybody hugging and talking to each other. Perhaps none of the other Hogwarts' alumni were as enthusiastic as Colin and Dennis Creevey; as soon as they arrived to set up their camera equipment, it was impossible for even Severus to wipe the smiles off their faces (that is, if he had actually ventured near them).

It took a while to get everybody settled down so that the wedding would start; many were talking excitedly with their friends seated around them, while pointing at old faces, shocked to see them at the wedding.

Before McGonagall had gotten the nosiest to quiet down, Severus looked out among the sea of former students, Order members, and other acquaintances and scowled.

"Miss Weasley's gesture was nice and everything, but I think I'm going to take a pass," Severus said.

"No Dad; you can't," Janie said, looking up as Severus looked down at his daughter.

"Why not?" He questioned.

"Because," Janie said. "You don't want to let mum down now, do you? She's been looking forwards to this."

"I hope you're not going to let a few former students intimidate you," Hermione replied, stopping in the doorway.

Severus stopped, "That's hardly-"

"Ooo, Mum," Janie said. "You look pretty! See, now why couldn't I wear a dre-"

Janie stopped when her father spun around and her mother laughed at the look on his face.

"You never cease to ama-"

"Janie!" Patrick exclaimed, running into the small room.

"Oh Patrick, you look so adorable!" Janie said, earning a bright smile from the small boy, who was dressed in a tuxedo.

"I get to bring the 'wings down!" Patrick said. "Isn't that so cool?"

_Great, he's a moment ruiner just like Janie, _Severus thought.

"Yeah," Janie said enthusiastically. "That really is-"

"Oh good!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "You're here," she said, looking amongst the four. "I've been looking for you lot for _ages_; Hermione, how's Ginny doing?"

"She's fine," Hermione replied. "She's in the room now."

"Thank you, dear," Mrs. Weasley said and then left the room.

---

The wedding was a wonderful ceremony, according to everybody who was in attendance. Everybody in the audience supported wide smiles on their faces as Harry, Ron, and Dumbledore stood in front of the procession and when Patrick walked down the isle carrying the rings. As Janie came skipping down the isle, a trail of petals in her wake, many of the women had emitted quite a few "awws." It wasn't until Hermione and Severus walked down the isle, did people's expressions turn to ones of shocked; not only was their former Professor _in _the wedding, but attached to his _arm_ was Hermione Granger, who had a large grin on her face. All across the hall, all of the men were squinting to see if it really _was_ their former Potions Master walking down the hall, while poor Neville looked like he had seen a ghost. On the other hand, all of the women in the hall, after the shock had passed, they immediately looked towards her ring fingers. Harry actually had to bite back a small laugh when he saw the looks on Dean and Seamus' faces when Janie walked up to stand in front of her parents.

After Ginny had arrived at the front, the wedding seemed to go by quickly from there. As each vow was exchanged, a blue band escaped from Dumbledore's wand and wrapped itself around Harry and Ginny's hands, disappearing once it had reached their wrists. When the vows were done and they were pronounced man and wide, a brilliant white strand shot from the tip of Dumbledore's wand and wound itself around Harry and Ginny's hands, making their wedding rings shine brightly, before Harry and Ginny kissed.

At this time, Severus decided to look away and look out at the group gathered instead; his eyes landing on Mrs. Weasley, who was sniffling into a handkerchief, when he noticed that half of the women looked teary eyed or were crying into something else. He then looked at Hermione, who was glossy-eyed. Rolling his eyes, Severus reached into his jacket's inside pocket, pulled out a handkerchief, and handed it to Hermione, who looked at him with wide eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered, wiping his eyes.

Severus nodded.

"Why do you have one of these? You usually never carry them…"

"The last wedding I went to," he replied quietly. "All of the women were crying…I do have cousins," he replied, after getting a quizzical look from Hermione. "And knowing you, I knew you'd need one."

Hermione handed back his handkerchief, just as the music started playing and watched as Harry and Ginny took their first steps as man and wife.

"You're alright with it, right?" Hermione asked, glancing at Severus.

"Yes; go," he said, waving her off and with his reassurance, she joined Ron to walk out of the hall.

"Well Dad, I guess that leaves you and me," Janie said smiling. "And Patrick."

Patrick smiled and looked up at Severus, "Janie and I would have gotten maw'ied, but I'm her brother now."

Janie smiled and grabbed her father's hand, while Patrick grabbed onto Janie's, until Janie whispered to him that they switch positions and for Patrick to jump when Janie tugged her arm up.

Needless to say that when Janie pulled Patrick up, Severus was completely unprepared for it, and yanked his arm up so fast, Patrick squealed in happiness; it had the desired effect. When Severus and Janie passed Neville and then Seamus, while swinging Patrick, both boys nearly had a heart attack; the Patil twins nearly collapsed onto the floor.

Once everybody who was in the wedding had cleared out of the hall, Colin decided to start with the wedding pictures.

"Alright," Colin said, observing the people before him. "Ready to take pictures?"

"Are we?" Ginny exclaimed. "You don't even have to ask!"

Colin smiled, "We'll have to cameras going, so things should run a little more quickly. Then after everybody has taken all of the pictures that they want, we'll start shooting all of the group pictures…Shall we get started then?"

"Definitely," Ginny said, pulling Harry's hand over towards the first camera she saw, while Hermione turned towards Severus with a wide smile on her face.

"I don't think so," Severus said, crossing his arms.

"I do; you got out of taking pictures _before_ the wedding, but you're not getting out of it now!" Hermione said, taking off towards the only open camera, making Severus roll his eyes and follow her, while Janie bobbed in front of him.

After all of the individual or family photos were taken and the customers chose if they wanted wizarding, muggle, or both types of photographs, they were finally ready to move onto group pictures.

"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed. "Hermione, we need to take our pictures!"

Hermione's eyes lit up, "Oh!"

"Oh, so you're just going to cast us to the side now?" Severus asked, as he nudged Janie, whose face instantly displayed her famous puppy dog eyes.

"Of course not-"

"Hermione, bring your husband over here too," Ginny said.

"We're not married yet," Hermione said.

"Well you sure seem like it at times; I was going to say 'boyfriend,' but I don't think Snape would have appreciated it very much – it just didn't sound right either," Ginny said and started looking around. "Harry? Harry, where did you – there you are! C'mon, we have to take pictures with Hermione and Snape!"

"What about Janie?" Harry asked.

"She ad Patrick are busy taking their own pictures," Ginny informed them, motioning to the pair.

As soon as Severus thought that he was finally done with taking pictures, Harry and Ron had cornered him and told them that all the men that were in the wedding, minus Arthur, were going to take a picture together. Severus' immediate response was 'no,' and he had _no_ idea how they had even ended up getting him to agree in the end; it was probably the fact that they wouldn't stop pestering him until he agreed.

"Alright, so it's going to be us and Remus," Harry said.

Severus looked at him with his arms crossed, "Why are we doing this again?"

Harry shrugged, "Because it's fun and it'll be good to look back at; besides, it'd be a good gift when you run out of ideas," Harry replied, as Remus walked up to the group smiling.

"Hello Harry, Severus, Ron," Remus said, still smiling.

Harry returned Remus' warm smile, "Want to take a picture? It's going to just be us guys."

"Sure; what kind of picture?" Remus asked.

"You know, I've always wanted to take a picture like this," Harry said. "I don't know why, but it has always seemed like fun."

"What kind of pictures are we talking about anyways?" Ron asked.

Harry smiled, "How often do we get to be 'bad?'"

Ron tried glancing subtly at Snape.

"Mr. Weasley, mind your own business," Severus replied.

So it was with that that the four took their picture. After all of the pictures were finally done, the reception had finally begun. To try and keep the public out of the wedding, the reception had also taken place inside the hotel, but it was in the largest ballroom that the hotel owned. In addition to the ballroom, a portion of it was also charmed to represent the beach and even came complete with sand.

After all of the guests had moved into the room and the band they hired was ready, everybody watched as Harry and Ginny danced their first dance together.

Right before their first song was over, Mrs. Weasley scurried up to the band stand and as soon as they finished playing, whispered something in the lead singer's ear, who smiled.

"Sure," he replied and Mrs. Weasley quickly walked away again, as a much livelier song than the previous came on and a huge grin spread across Ginny's face.

Several seconds after the song had started, Hermione looked to her left and saw that Lavender and Seamus were heading straight for her.

"Umm, Severus," Hermione said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I'll be right back."

By the time Severus turned and saw his two former students walking towards them, Hermione had quickly made her exit and he rolled his eyes. On her way over to the bar, Hermione turned her head to see that Lavender and Seamus were stopped by Dean and ran right into someone.

"Ooo; I'm sorry…Neville!" Hermione exclaimed, hugging her old friend. "I haven't seen you in forever! How are you?"

Neville smiled, "It's good to see you too, Hermione. I'm well; how are you doing?"

"As of right now, fantastic," she said smiling. "Are you still studying Herbology down in the rainforest?"

Neville nodded, "It's absolutely amazing down there; did you know that I'm actually living down there now?"

"Really?" Hermione asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah; once I started researching down there, I fell in love with it. I really enjoyed everything – except for the constantly moving back and forth from England, so a little over a year ago, I finally decided to look for a home down there."

"Was that before you owled me?" Hermione asked.

"Just shortly after; it was getting really tedious having to pick everything up and move it…and then I met this girl before that-"

"Really?" Hermione asked.

He nodded, "And we really hit it off and ended up getting married."

"Oh Neville; that's wonderful!"

He smiled, "It wasn't fair to keep shuffling her around…and then do that to our daughter…I couldn't do it anymore and decided to stay; I even have a job as a herbologist and my own little store."

"Neville…this is fabulous!" Hermione exclaimed, grabbing Severus' attention.

He smiled bashfully, "Now enough about me, Hermione; what have you been up to?"

Hermione smiled to herself and couldn't help but think of what his reaction would be when he found out who she was engaged to.

"Well, for a while after Hogwarts, I became a private potions instructor and also brewed for the Ministry, but then I stopped-"  
"You were so good in potions," Neville complimented. "Why did you stop?"

Hermione smiled, "Because Professor Binns quit and I was offered the position for Professor of History of Magic at Hogwarts."

"That's incredible!" Neville said. "I've always wondered how Hogwarts was getting along."

"You know, I'm sure Professor Sprout would just love it if you came to visit her; she's always hoping that you might drop by some day," Hermione informed him.

"Really?" Neville asked excitedly.

Hermione nodded. "But other than that, everything's the same…hold on; I want you to meet somebody," she said, when she saw Janie pass.

"Janie, come here," Hermione commanded politely and Janie quickly walked over to her mother.

"Neville, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Janie. Janie, this is Neville; he's one of my friends from Hogwarts," Hermione introduced.

"Hi!" Janie said happily, holding out her hand for him to shake.

"Hermione, your daughter is adorable," Neville said, shaking the young witch's hand. "You have to meet mine; she's around here somewhere…"

"Wait; are you Neville _Longbottom_?" Janie asked.

He nodded, "Why?"

"I've heard so many good things about you; especially from my Uncles Harry and Ron…and then some things from my dad…."

Neville raised an eyebrow, "Your da-"

"Janie!" Patrick yelled, running over and grabbing her hand. "C'mon; Uncle Bill said that he was going to show us a dance!" He exclaimed, pulling Janie away.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Neville," Janie bid goodbye, with a wave.

Neville smiled, "Does Janie go to Hogwarts?"

Hermione nodded, "It was a bit of a shock when I showed up; she didn't even have a chance to write me that she made Gryffindor."

"I'm glad that Professor Binns is gone though; his classes were enough to put almost anybody asleep. Anything else new at Hogwarts?" Neville asked, before pausing. "Is Professor…Snape…still there?"

Hermione almost visibly smiled, as a shadow fell across Neville's face.

"Yes, Mr. Longbottom, I am still teaching potions at Hogwarts," Severus said, walking up behind Hermione.

Neville looked positively shell-shocked, "Hello, Professor Sn-Snape; it's so nice to se-see you. Hermione was just telling me about Hogwarts."

"Was she now-" Severus stopped when he felt someone tugging on his sleeve. Looking down, he saw that Janie was standing next to him.

"Hey, Dad?" Janie asked, her eyes sparkling. "Could you help me with something?"

"Help you with what?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Uncle Bill is teaching Patrick some sort of swing dance and I don't have anybody to dance with…"

"How do you know if I know how to swing dan-"

"Professor Dumbledore is dancing with Professor McGonagall and he told me to get you, because you should know how to swing dance too," Janie replied hopefully.

Severus sighed, "Alright; lead the way."

Janie's eyes brightened considerably and grabbed her father's hand, leading him over to the area, after he had politely excused himself.

"Hermione," Neville started. "Professor Snape is-is Janie's father?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes he is."

"Hermione…" Neville continued. "You're with Professor Snape?"

Hermione's smile grew wider, "Yes."

"Hermione – you're not _married_ to him, are you?" Neville asked uneasily and Hermione showed him her ring. "No; engaged," she replied, her smile huge, as Colin quickly ran over to where Janie was dancing; his camera ready.

When Hermione looked back towards Neville, he looked like he was just about ready to faint.

"Neville, dear; are you alright?" A woman with beautiful, long hair asked, as she walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh; yeah," Neville said, turning around. "Hermione, I'd like you to meet my wife, Natalie. Natalie, this is Hermione Granger, one of my best friends from Hogwarts."

Natalie smiled. "It's so nice to finally meet you," she said, shaking Hermione's hand. "I've heard so many good things about you."

"Hermione, I'd like you to meet our daughter, Chrissie," Neville introduced. "Chrissie, this is Hermione Granger."

"Hi," the little girl with straight blonde hair replied shyly.

"Hi," Hermione replied happily.

"She's going to be four in June," Neville said.

Chrissie looked up. "I want a jaguar for my birthday, but daddy said 'no,'" she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Joel got a leopard for _his_ birthday, _last_ year."

"Chrissie," Neville started lecturing. "Those are _wild_ animals."

"I know," she sighed. "But wouldn't it be so cool to have one?"

Hermione smiled as Neville looked at his daughter and started explaining why she couldn't have a jaguar as a pet, Seamus and Dean had walked up and joined in on their conversation. A little while after they started talking, Hermione quickly excused herself and bumped right into Padma and Parvati.

"Hermione!" One of the two exclaimed, "How are you?"

"I'm fi-"

"Oh my gods; what is this?" Parvati asked, picking up Hermione's right hand.

"Well, by the looks of it," Padma started. "It looks like an engagement ring."

Parvati smacked her sister on the arm. "I know what it is," she said snootily.

"So when is it?" Padma asked, after she gave her sister a nasty look.

Parvati gave her sister a look that resembled the look that she gave Ron when she saw his robes at the Yule Ball, "You don't even know who she's getting married to yet."

"It's Snape, right?" Padma interrupted her sister.

"Yes-"

"How did you kno-"

Padma waved her sister off, "I saw them at work, remember? They were there with their daugh-" Padma paused for a second to look at Hermione. "That's right! You both have a daughter! You know, she's an adorable little thing; I can hardly believe that she's Snape's-"

"I can hardly believe that Snape _has_ a daughter," Parvati said.

The twins continued on interrupting each other, telling Hermione about their lives _and_ hers, while not even letting her get more than two words in. Ron even walked up and tried to save her, but he only got sucked into the conversation as well.

"Hermione, I've been looking for you for ages!" Ginny said, butting into the conversation.

"Really? I've been right here," Hermione replied. "For a long time," she added quietly, so that only Ginny could hear her.

"C'mon; we have to go and have a drink together," she said happily.

Hermione smiled sadly at her, "I think I'll pass-"

"Please?" Ginny asked. "You didn't even drink anything at the bachelorette party!"

"That's because I set myself a New Year's resolution; to drink less. After Severus' surprise birthday party that the rest of the staff had thrown for him, I decided to put into action my new and late resolution," Hermione told her.

Ginny pouted, "You're no fun, Hermione."

Hermione smiled. "I know; I'm such a party pooper," she said sarcastically.

"Aw, look," Harry said happily, as he walked up behind Harry and Ginny and hung his arms around each of their shoulders. "It's my two favorite ladies," he continued while Ron gave him the 'what-about-me?' look.

"Oh; I'm sorry, Ron," Harry said, pulling Ron over next to Hermione and letting his hand rest on his friend's shoulder. "These are my _three_ favorite ladies."

"Hey!" Ron said, swatting Harry's hand off of him, while Ginny and Hermione exploded with laughter. "I am not a _lady_."

Harry screwed up his face, as if he smelt something foul, "You're right Ron; you definitely don't _eat_ like a lady."

"That's righ- hey! That's not funny either," Ron said, glaring at Hermione and Ginny, who were using each other as support, so that they wouldn't fall onto the floor.

"As funny as this is – Hermione, could I talk to you for a moment, please?" Harry asked kindly.

"Sure," Hermione replied and followed Harry over to a deserted table. "What is it Harry? Is anything wrong?"

"Hermione," Harry began. "Is there anything that you need to talk about?"

"I don't know; is there anything that _you_ need to talk about?" Hermione replied, wearing a confused expression, while across the room, Janie finally let her father go.

"It's not me that I'm worried about," Harry said.

"_Me_?"

Harry nodded.

"I'm fine, Harry," Hermione assured, getting a raised eyebrow. "Really; I'm absolutely fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! It was just a col-"

"Hermione, I know that you haven't been feeling well, but it seems like there's something that…" Harry paused; he didn't know how to exactly phrase his thoughts without Hermione going off on him. "…I dunno; something that isn't right…"

"Like what?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms and sending him a challenging look.

"Like-"

"Hey Mum; you've _gotta _try this cake," Janie said, walking up to her and shoving the plate under her nose.

As soon as Hermione smelt the cake, she felt positively green. "Umm; I need some air," Hermione excused herself and walked away, feeling better as more distance was put between her and the cake.

Hermione looked behind her to see if Harry or Janie were following her and ran right into something solid.

"Miss Granger, do watch where you're going next time," a voice said.

Hermione looked up to see Severus smirking and lightly smacked him, "Severus! You did that on purpose!"

He grabbed the hand that smacked him, earning a confused look from Hermione.

_Please don't tell me he's reverted back to 'Professor Snape' now that he's around all of his former students again_, Hermione thought, a small hint of fear flashing throughout her eyes.

Severus' smirk wavered when he saw the emotion flicker through Hermione's eyes, but refrained from scowling as he lowered their hands. Hermione lowered her eyes to look at their clasped hands, but looked back up to his face when he started speaking.

"Would you care to dance?" He asked lowly, grabbing her free hand with his and smirked at her shocked expression.

"Really?" Hermione asked enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling.

"Yes," she said.

Hermione glanced towards the bandstand, where the band were speaking amongst themselves, "But they're not even playing."

He smiled slightly, "They will."

"But how do you-"

"Trust me," he assured.

As soon as Ginny saw Severus and Hermione head out to the dance floor, she grabbed Harry's hand and started dragging him.

"Ginny! I was talking!" He exclaimed, looking back towards Oliver Wood and Fred.

"And now, you're dancing," Ginny replied simply.

"How are you feeling?" Severus asked gently, shortly after the song had started. "And I'm not just talking about when we started dancing."

Hermione had to smile at his last statement, "I'm alright, but I don't think that I will be having cake anytime soon."

"Did you have any cake while out with Mrs. Potter?"

"Chocolate," Hermione replied.

"I think you need to stop eating chocolate for a while then," Severus said quietly.

"Me? Stop eating chocolate? That has about a good of chance happening as Fred and Angelina getting back together tonight," she commented.

Severus raised an eyebrow, "Ms. Johnson and Mr. Weasley?"

Hermione slightly nodded, "They dated for a little while after Hogwarts, until Fred did something stupid – I can't remember what it was though. In return, Angelina told him that 'when he grew up, they could get back together.' Every time the two get anywhere remotely far, Fred does or says something incredibly stupid and Angelina rejects him."

"Why doesn't she just move _on_ already?" Severus commented. "It's not like he's going to grow up anytime soon."

"Because she thinks Fred's worth waiting for; she'll wait for him to get his act together. You know," she said, wrapping her arms around Severus' neck. "It's almost like us."

He raised an eyebrow, although Hermione hadn't seen, because her head was now resting on his chest.

"See, I was always thinking about you – in one way or another – and I was waiting for _myself_ to get _my_ act together…some Gryffindor _I_ am. And then there's you…why didn't _you_ move on, Severus?" She asked quickly.

He remained quiet for several short moments, "Because I…" he trailed off, not knowing how to phrase his words.

"Was subconsciously thinking of me?" She finished his sentence. "No matter how much you hated me at the time-"

"I've never hated you," he said quietly. "I never could. Maybe be extremely mad at you…but I could never really _hate_ you."

Hermione smiled, "But Fred needs to learn how to get his act together, because he doesn't know what he's missing out on."

"And what is he missing out on?" Severus asked smoothly.

"The rest of his life," Hermione replied. "It's so much better if you're able to share it with somebody; so much worthwhile to live."

After the dance was over and Harry had finally gotten away from Ginny, he had somehow managed to pull Severus to the side.

"Is there a problem, Potter?" Severus asked, as politely as he could muster when it involved Harry.

"Professor, I'm worried about Hermione; yes, I know that she hasn't been feeling very well, but it seems like something else," Harry said, putting his hands inside his pockets.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe she doesn't want anybody to fuss over her?" Severus asked.

"She also had a half-bottle of a potion sitting on her dresser-"

Severus furrowed his brow, except it wasn't at Harry, "And that she's probably taking the potion to recover quicker."

Harry looked at Snape sheepishly, "I guess I really didn't think about _all_ that-"

"Yes, you were always known to jump to conclusions quickly," Severus said, albeit not rudely.

"I'm just concerned; there's nothing wrong with that," Harry said, a little more sharply than he intended.

Snape raised his infamous eyebrow at him, "Thank you for being concerned, but I have it from here. I should go and find her now, before she thinks I'm hiding."

"From the camera or the students?" Harry asked.

"Knowing her, probably both," he replied and walked back towards Hermione and Janie.

---

The day after the wedding, Hermione and Severus decided to spend one last day in the Bahamas, walking around the shops and then took Janie to the beach. The next four days were spent at Severus' manor, along with a trip to Diagon Alley, while the last night out of the castle was spent with a nice family dinner.

The Tuesday after school had started, the staff was seated at the Head's Table, when the morning post came in and a package was dropped in front of Severus and Hermione.

Hermione immediately reached for the package and started to rip of the paper, "Oh good! I was wondering when these would come; they're here a lot faster than I had expected…"

"What?" Severus asked, as Hermione opened the box.

"The pictures…and the proofs we ordered from the wedding," Hermione replied, opening up the large envelope that contained their proofs and order forms and immediately started to look through them.

"Oh my God, Severus; these are absolutely amazing! I love them! Look – we finally have a family picture! Oh – and look at this one!"

Severus listened to Hermione fawn over all of the pictures for another five minutes, until she reached into the box and pulled out a binder and a silver picture frame.

"stange – I don't remember buying anything in a picture fra- Oh my gods! _When_ did you take this!?" Hermione asked, her hand covering her gaping mouth.

"Take what?" Severus asked, grabbing the frame and turned it over, only to find that it was the "bad boy" picture he had ordered for Hermione.

"That picture!" She said, still covering her mouth.

"Oh, this one?" He asked, waving the back of the picture at her, so that no one else would see it.

"Yes, that one," Hermione replied.

"Do you like it?" Severus asked, smirking.

"Yes, I like it! Now give it back," Hermione said, trying to reach for it.

Severus gave her back the picture frame and she goggled at it again.

"You know, I think I'm going to order another copy and cut everybody else but you out of the picture," Hermione replied. "Yes, I think that is a _very_ good idea," she added, putting the picture safely back into the box and opened the binder.

"What else has Mr. Creevey graced us with?" Severus asked, with a hint of sarcasm.

Hermione smiled, "All of the candid shots he took of us – Look!" She said, pointing at some of the pictures. "There's us walking up the isle…and the three of us stading up in the front – oh! Look at Janie as the flower girl! And then there's one of Janie and Patrick," Hermione marveled and then flipped a few pages and her heart stopped. "I am _definitely_ getting copies of this one," she said.

Severus looked at her wearily, "Copies of wha-"

He stopped when Hermione showed him the picture: it was one of him and Janie swing dancing, right as he swung her out to the side.

_Even I have to admit that this boy's a phenomenal photographer_, Severus thought, flipping through some more of the pages.

"You got yours too?" McGonagall asked, sitting down next to Hermione, with a similar binder in one of her hands.

Hermione nodded, "Just got it this morning."

"I must admit, that boy has really become something," McGonagall said. "When he was at Hogwarts, I always thought that his photography was just a phase and that he would eventually outgrow it…"

Hermione nodded in agreement, "I can't even tell you how annoyed he made Harry; he was _constantly_ trying to take pictures of him in the Common Room during our second year."

"During his seventh year, Colin actually came in and _asked_ for a full staff picture for his Hogwarts scrap book," McGonagall said. "And as you can imagine, Albus thought that it was an _excellent _idea and wholeheartedly agreed to it. But this one," she stopped and pointed directly at Severus. "Couldn't be found for a _week_ after he got wind of Mr. Creevey's plan. He doesn't like pictures much, does he?"

Hermione smiled, "Not really, but…" Hermione said and flipped open the binder to the picture of Severus and Janie dancing. "He sure takes good ones when he's not looking."

McGonagall reached out and grabbed the binder, "Let me see that! That picture is absolutely adorable!" She said and then flipped through a few more pages. "And there's more. Oh," she said, very much like a grandmotherly figure. "Here's one of you two dancing!"

For the next fifteen minutes, Severus watched in horror as Hermione and McGonagall looked at each other's pictures, just like two childhood girlfriends would. And then, to top it all off, after classes, Ginny came over and the two continued to share pictures, upsetting both Severus and Harry, who sat staring at them from the kitchen.

"Women," Harry said. "They're _just_ pictures. It's not like our walls aren't covered already…she's not even looking at the one's with us together; she just _had_ to drop _every_thing and see Hermione," he grumbled. "It's not like she's going anywhere…"

"Make sure that neither of them hears you," Severus mumbled. "You'll be at the receiving end of an ugly hex."

The next day had started out normally enough, until breakfast, when a letter was dropped into Severus' toast.

"Bloody bir-" Severus stopped when Hermione picked up the letter out of his toast. "What are you doing?"

"Reading the mail," she replied. "It is a bit early though," she said, looking up at the owl-less ceiling.

"Oh my God…" Hermione said, as her eyes flew through the hastily-scribbled letter.

_Dear Hermione and Professor Snape,_

_Hermione and Professor, this is Colin Creevey writing to you about something…unthinkable that has happened. Last night, someone broke into our store and stole all of the second copies of the wedding pictures_. _Luckily though, they were only the candid copies, seeing as the personal ones were already developed and locked away_. _We are currently working hard to uncover who did this and there's no need to worry about your pictures – the original copies are sill intact_. _Harry and I are currently working on the problem and I express my sincerest apologies if this has caused any problems_. _Feel free to owl me at any time with any concerns_.

_Sincerely,_

_Colin Creevey_

"What does he mean they're _sto_len-"

"Professor Granger," Filch interrupted, holding out a letter in front of her. "This came for you via floo," he finished, as the morning post came soaring into the Great Hall.

Hermione took the letter, thanked the man, and then hastily tore it open – only to groan.

"What _now_?" Severus asked, raising his infamous eyebrow.

"It's Lavender again," she said. "Along with Padma and Parvati."

_Hermione,_

_We _swear_ that we had _nothing _to do with the article in _The Daily Prophet; _we didn't tell _anybody _else about you and Snape_. _See, after Padma had told us the news, we went to tell Ginny the next day and she made us _promise _that we wouldn't tell a _soul_ about what was going on in your life – we didn't even tell anyone at the wedding_. _We respect that you don't want anything being passed around; I mean, if _we _were in _your_ position, we wouldn't want anything spreading around either_.

"That's a load of crap," Hermione said. "'We respect;' they don't respect anyone's reputation except their own. I _need_ the _Prophet_," Hermione said, as the owls continued to circulate throughout the Great Hall.

"Why?" Severus asked.

Hermione watched impatiently as their copy flew towards them and hastily grabbed it from the owl, before unrolling it.

"Oh my gods," Hermione gasped, making Severus grab Remus' paper as soon as the owl had dropped it.

"You could have just asked, Severus," Remus said, giving the old its payment. "I would have given it to you."

But Severus didn't reply, as he was too busy gaping at the front page.

"_Harry Potter Weds Former Classmate and Long-time Friend, Ginevra Weasley_"

The article has described Harry and Ginny's wedding, along with portraying several pictures of them. It then went on to describe how 'Mr. Potter' had thought that he could outwit the press and set up extra security measures, all while ending with how outraged the press, or in particular, the one reporter was at this. However, it wasn't the title that had them staring blankly – it was the appearance of the stolen photographs, along with another bold-printed title.

"_Hermione Granger to wed fellow war hero and ex-spy, Severus Snape_"

"_Just as surprising as the Potter-Weasley marriage, this information seems just as shocking_. _Sources have also informed us that the pair have a twelve-year-old daughter and also that the brainy Gryffindor has taken up the post as the Professor of History of Magic_. _Was this a match made in heaven or are they another victim of the after-effects of the celebratory ball? Turn to page four for more on this scandalous issue_.

"That wretched-" Severus stopped, when Dumbledore came up behind him and patted him on the shoulder.

"Good morning, Severus," Dumbledore said. "Shocking newspaper this morning, isn't it?" He asked nonchalantly, taking his seat at the Head Table.

Severus ignored him and stood up, pushing his chair in.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked, as he swiped _The Daily Prophet_ from the table.

"To straighten a few things out with that Skeeter woman," he grounded out.

Hermione grabbed his arm, "No, you're not."

"Yes, I am; let go of me," he said, ripping his arm from her.

"Severus-"

"She's not getting away with writing those things-"

"Well at least he didn't read page four yet," Remus commented, reading another copy of the paper.

Severus glared at him, before flipping the paper open. As his eyes quickly read the lines before him, his glare intensified and he grabbed his wand.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked, frantically turning to the fourth page, her eyes quickly scanning the page, until they stopped at a certain section of the paper.

_It seems that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, will let his favorites do anything these days. Our unnamed sources have gratefully informed us that _Professor_ Severus Snape and Hermione Granger have a twelve-year-old daughter, who currently attends Hogwarts_. _Was she just another product of the celebratory ball, or one of a perfect match made by fate? Pictures from the wedding between the Slytherin and Gryffindor (Their daughter is, in fact, a Gryffindor_._ I wonder how the _Head_ of Slytherin is handling this devastating hit_.)_ are quite clear that they're not only close, but also engaged to be married_. _Questions will undoubtedly arise about how long this was going on for and all arrows point back to Ms. Granger, soon-to-be-Snape's days at Hogwarts – _as a student. _Of course, this only adds to parents' doubts about Hogwarts_. _If a Slytherin_…

Hermione didn't have a chance to finish reading the long article, due to the rush of hot air she felt near her arm; Severus had apparently set Remus' newspaper on fire, disappearing in a whoosh of flames.

"Cancel my morning classes," Severus said. "I won't be here."

"Severus, you're only sinking down to her level-"

"_No one_ can go as far down as her," he replied. "She has her _own_ level."

"Thanks for setting fire to my paper, Severus," Remus commented. "It's appreciated."

Severus didn't even take the time to glare at Remus or even indicate that he had heard him and kept walking. It wasn't until he reached the end of the teacher's table, did he stop.

"Severus," a voice called, but Severus gave no inclination that he had heard anything.

"_Severus_!" The Headmaster called again, quite louder than the first time, making the entire Hall go quiet and look up at the Potions Master.

As soon as Severus heard Dumbledore's stern command, he froze and undoubtedly felt all of the Great Hall's occupant's eyes on him.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, a tad bit more quietly. "I need you to do me a favor."

Before turning around to walk back to Dumbledore, Snape sent a the entire Hall a menacing glare, making an extra effort towards Remus. They talked for a few minutes before Snape turned around and walked angrily out of the Hall.

---

Hermione watches him leave the Hall, before turning back to the paper and transfigured a page into a piece of parchment, and then the other into an envelope. Tapping her wand to the parchment, the words, "_It only takes one letter_," appeared across the small slip.

Remus watched in interest as Hermione casually ripped out another page, turned it into a beetle, put the beetle and the parchment into the envelope, and then sealed it. When she was finished, she looked at Severus' empty seat, to see that Remus wasginving her an amused look.

"What?" She asked.

"What was that for?" He asked curiously.

"Skeeter," Hermione replied. "I have a feeling that she's going to regret writing that article," Hermione said casually.

---

The next morning wasn't much better; the _Prophet_ had spread across the school over night and Severus and Hermione were exhausted. From dealing with Janie to dealing with Harry and Colin all night, the morning was _not_ welcomed.

"And now, it starts all over again," Severus remarked dryly.

"How about being a bit more optimistic?" Hermione replied.

Severus glared at her, "What happened to you stop being a know-it-all?"

Hermione returned is glare, "Since when did the self-centered bas-"

Before Hermione could finish her comment, an owl dropped a rolled up newspaper in front of her.

"Anything good in the paper?" Hermione asked, after she had paid the owl.

"There's been a brea-" Remus stopped short when McGonagall stepped on his foot underneath the table.

"There's been a breakthrough with the identity of the picture thief," McGonagall supplied.

Hermione glanced at the paper, before picking it up and tossing it in front of Remus, "Here's your paper back."

After Hermione had turned back to Severus and continued their argument, except now it had turned from bite behind the marks, to pure sarcasm, Remus turned to McGonagall, "And you lied to them, why?"

"Let's not discuss this here," Dumbledore replied and beckoned for them to follow him.

---

"There's been a breakout from Azkaban," Dumbledore stated.

"Yes, I know that; it's on the front page," Remus said. "But I don't know how that affects Severus or Hermione…"

"Did you finish _reading_ the article?" McGonagall inquired.

"No, I didn't get a chance too," Remus answered.

"Remus," Dumbledore started. "Lucius Malfoy has somehow managed to break out of Azkaban last night. The nightly guard reported him missing at eleven o'clock that night and no trace of him yet has been reported. We have Aurors searching his home and every place imaginable for him, since the news. Almost every available person they have is on call – except for Harry and Ron; they're still on vacation and their contract disables them from going," Dumbledore said seriously.

"Are you going to tell Severus? It's not unlikely that he may overhear something today," Remus said.

"We will tell him about it when the time is right," Dumbledore informed him. "I'm afraid that if Severus catches wind of Lucius' return, things will _not_ go well."

"Does Hermione know about the situation between Severus and Lucius?" Remus asked.

"Not likely," Dumbledore replied. "I presume that they had cut their personal ties with each other by then."

"Don't you think that we should tell Hermione, just in case that something does happen?" McGonagall suggested.

"That would be for the best," Dumbledore replied. "Minerva, can you please go and bring Ms. Granger up here?"

Minerva nodded and left, returned with Hermione several minutes later. After Hermione sat down in the proffered chair, Dumbledore handed her the morning's copy of _The Daily Prophet_.

After Hermione quickly skimmed through the article, she looked up, "Why didn't you want us to find out about this? There are Aurors on this, right?"

"Yes, and it wasn't you that we didn't want finding out about it – it was Severus," Dumbledore replied. "Are you aware of what happened between Severus and Lucius before the Final Battle?"

"No," Hermione said softly.

"Hermione," Dumbledore said seriously. "What I'm about to tell you is important and it would be wise to pretend that you didn't know anything for the time being; at least to Severus."

Hermione nodded.

"I'm sure you're aware that because Draco couldn't carry out the task, Voldemort was extremely angry with him, which forced Draco into hiding."

"But what does that have to do with Severus and Lucius? I thought they were friends."

"Lucius didn't take too kindly to the idea that Severus decided to step in and protect Draco, especially without consulting him first, because Lucius couldn't do it himself. Yes, Narcissa wanted Severus to protect their son, but Lucius felt that it was his job, even though he was in Azkaban and on Voldemort's side; I never _really_ thought that Lucius could have let Voldemort kill Draco – he was his eldest son and heir to the Malfoy fortune.

"After the war, I went with Severus and Draco to visit Lucius in Azkaban. He was still angry with Severus and even angrier with Draco, for making the decision to let Severus ultimately be his guardian. I even think that Lucius was angry with me just _being_ there; the three of them had an argument about why I was there, which only ended up making Lucius furious.

"A few more short words lead to Lucius belittling Draco, when Severus stepped in and defended him. Lucius then stared to yell at Severus for 'betraying' him and at Draco for how 'foolish' he was being. Severus, being himself, decided to make an extremely cutting remark on Lucius' behalf, insulting him on many levels. Those two boys moved so fast, it even took Draco and _I _a second to realize what was going on: Lucius had Severus by the shirt and Severus had his wand at Lucius' neck.

"Before the guards came back to take Lucius back to his cell, he made a few remarks about Hogwarts, including you, Harry, and Ron and Severus probably did the most _un_intelligent thing he could do at the time: he not only challenged him, he called him out _and_ kept his mouth running. I can't tell you how happy I was to be finally out of there," Dumbledore finished and popped a lemon drop into his mouth. "Lemon drop?"

"No thank you," Hermione replied politely. "So you're afraid that Severus might go after Lucius?"

"I also fear that Lucius hasn't forgotten anything either. I'm unaware of the true reason behind his breakout, but I wouldn't put it past him to make a side-stop."

Hermione nodded, when a thought popped up in her head, "Tomorrow is a Hogsmeade visit."

Dumbledore nodded, "Indeed it is. We will have undercover Aurors walking up and down the streets, Order members, as well as a few staff members. I assume you are going, correct?"

Hermione nodded.

"That means that Severus is going as well…Minerva will be there, along with Remus, for a little while, Pomona, and I do believe Hagrid is going as well…"

"Severus will have a field day; he doesn't even know that he's going yet," Hermione commented.

Dumbledore smiled and continued on with their conversation, albeit turning into a more pleasant direction.

---

A little after lunch, during Severus' free time slot, he was rummaging through his potion's supplies and through all of his personal lab's log books. He was quite sure that Hermione was going to Hogsmeade tomorrow, so he was looking through what ingredients he needed to purchase.

Flipping through his log book, Severus paused to write an ingredient down that he needed more of, when he noticed that it was written in Hermione's handwriting, from before they left for the Bahamas.

_No wonder why there's none left_, he thought. _I'm shocked that she didn't need more_, he narrowed his eyes at the ingredient's name…This_ isn't used in nausea potions_…he paused, running his finger up the list. _And _these _aren't either_.

Flipping through a few more pages, Snape looked at every ingredient that Hermione had recorded down, when something dawned on him.

_She _wouldn't_…she isn't…_

Severus pushed away his potion's logs and pulled out a separate piece of parchment and organized all of his thoughts and wrote down certain memories on it.

_New Years' revolution my arse_, Severus thought, folding up the piece of parchment and put it in his pocket, before leaving Hogwarts and apparating to Diagon Alley.

---

Severus knew what he was doing wasn't very ethical, but he was after all, he was a Slytherin.

"You're back early," Hermione observed, when she walked through their quarter's door and found Severus reading a paper at his desk. "Don't you have papers to grade?"

He raised one up in the air, "Last one."

"You _are _done early; tired of writing sarcastic marks on everybody's papers?" Hermione joked.

"Never," he replied. "There's a package for you on the table," he informed her, waving his hand in the direction of the table.

"Really? From who?" She asked, walking over to pick up the package.

"I don't know," Severus replied, refusing to look at her. "I think it might be from Mrs. Potter…"

"You know, you can call her Ginny, Severus," Hermione said, opening the small package.

"I'd rather not," Severus replied.

"Ginny sent me a candle," Hermione replied, examining the light blue jar. "I wonder what it is; there isn't a label as to what flavor it is…" Hermione said and opened the jar.

Severus glanced at her as she lifted the candle up to her nose and took a deep breath, inhaling in the birthday cake scent, and immediately felt rotten. In a split second, Hermione's face screwed up in disgust and her hand flew over to cover her mouth.

"I'll be right back," Hermione managed to rush out, as she ran into the bathroom and shut the door.

Severus sighed, put his quill down, and pushed himself away from his desk.

"Hermione, do you need-"

"No," she replied.

"Are you sur-"

"Yes."

Severus sighed and moved to lean against the wall outside the bathroom's door. He waited patiently for Hermione to come out and when she did, he quietly moved behind her, so when she turned to look over her shoulder, she couldn't see him.

"Severus?" Hermione called out, looking around the room. "Severu-" Hermione stopped short as Severus came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"Yes," she replied, leaning into him.

"If you're still sick, then why did you stop taking those potions?" Severus asked.

"I'm not-"

"If you want, there still should be some nausea potions left…or do you still prefer your original method?" He asked.

"My _what_?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Those potions you've been brewing…the one with the jasmine petals and lavender extracts?" Severus asked, while discretely slipping his hand closer towards Hermione's stomach.

Hermione froze at Severus' question, "I wanted to see if it would work better than the nausea potions."

"I could have just doubled the strength…" Severus pointed out, making Hermione mentally sigh in relief.

"I didn't want to bother you; I can brew potions too," Hermione pointed out, feeling suddenly tired and relaxed into him, still unaware on how close Severus' lingering hand was to her stomach. "Besides with the wedding and everything, I thought it would just be easier if I brewed the potions…"

Right as she felt her eye lids getting heavy, she felt something warm on her stomach, and looked back towards Severus, just in time to hear him whisper an unknown spell. She looked at Severus in confusion, until she saw that he wouldn't pry his eyes off of his hand.

Hermione's eyes quickly flashed to her hand and looked with wide eyes as her stomach was glowing a pink color and then finally changed to blue. After the blue had been present for several seconds, Hermione gently put her hands on top of his, but furrowed her brows when he pulled his hand away and looked at it.

Hermione turned around to look at him, but before she could say anything, Severus gently picked up Hermione's hand and brought her pink-glowing palm up to meet his own blue-glowing one. Once he brought up their palms and connected them, they joined in a white light, before he pulled his hand away and found out that Hermione's hand had turned from pink to blue.

Severus looked up at Hermione, a bit of hair falling into his face, "You're pregnant," he stated.

Hermione looked up to meet his eyes, but before she could respond, the fatigue and excitement had hit her full blast and she passed out; Severus catching her before she hit the floor.

---

The first thing Hermione became aware of when she woke up was a strong pair of arms, wrapped securely around her midsection, and the fact that they were sitting on something soft. Slowly looking around, she noticed that they were on the couch and that her head was resting on Severus' chest. Looking up to see him, she saw that his eyes were closed, so she turned to look at her hands, which we no longer glowing.

"The spell doesn't last that long," Severus replied softly.

"How did you know?" Hermione asked quietly.

"You haven't drank, the potion's logs, your morning sickness and mood swings, and then you get ill anytime you smell cake-"

"_You_ sent me that candle-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice was still soft, but he wasn't able to keep small amounts of sadness and anger from leaking out.

"I was going to, but then the incident with the wedding pictures happened and the opportunity disappeared, but then the Hogsmeade weekend presented itself. I was going to tell you tomorrow," Hermione said sincerely.

"How far along are you?" He asked, his voice still barely above a whisper.

"Almost two months," Hermione replied.

"And how long have you known? I presume now that you knew around the wedding," Severus stated.

"I wasn't sure until the day of the wedding," Hermione told him. "You and Harry almost caught me with the test, when you barged into my room. I know that Harry saw the bottle sitting on the dresser, but I'm pretty sure that he didn't know what it was; he didn't say anything about it," Hermione replied.

"And I didn't see it?"

"Like you were even looking at the dresser," Hermione replied.

"Are you mad?" Hermione asked, after several minutes were spent in silence.

Severus looked down at her, "How could I be?" He asked, his hold around her tightening slightly.

"I don't know; somehow I thought that you'd be upset," Hermione replied shyly.

"I'm more upset that you didn't tell me," he responded.

"Severus," Hermione started hesitantly. "Do you even want another-"

"Of course," he cut her off, secretly happy, because he would have the chance of being there from the beginning. "How could I not? You underestimate me sometimes, Hermione; you don't always have to jump to conclusions," he said. "You can save that for Mr. Weasley."

Hermione gave a small smile and silence enveloped them again for a few more moments, before Hermione spoke.

"I love you, Severus," she said.

Severus was silent for several long seconds, and right when Hermione thought that he wasn't going to reply, she felt him shift.

Hermione turned around to look at him, when he kissed her, "I love you too, Hermione."

Hermione smiled broadly and hugged him, before she turned back around, put her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes.

---

Severus awoke early the next day, so that he would be ready before Hermione woke up.

"Hermione," he said softly, gently shaking her shoulders.

"Mmm…"

"Hermione," Severus said a little louder.

"What?" She asked, opening her eyes.

"You're still going into Hogsmeade today, right?" He asked, as she sat up.

"Yes…"

"Then you might want to get up now and start getting ready – especially if you want to get there before the students."

Hermione looked at the clock and then at Severus. "You're already ready," she stated. "Thank you…and for waking me too."

"There's something for you in the bathroom cupboard too," he informed her, as he left the room.

Hermione walked into the bathroom and opened one of the medicinal cupboard's doors and found an entire stock of Morning Sickness potion lining the top shelf.

_I hate it when he makes me feel bad_, Hermione thought and hurried out to thank him.

---

"I can't believe you beat _us_," McGonagall remarked, when she saw Severus and Hermione waiting for them in Hogsmeade. "I nearly died of shock when Albus told me that you two had gone ahead; I thought you were going to be late again."

Hermione smiled, "Nope; we've even went out for breakfast."

"Unbelievable," McGonagall said. "And here I thought I'd never see the day."

Hermione smiled again, "Makes you feel old, doesn't it?"

McGonagall's mouth opened and stayed gaping, "Did she just…she did not-"

"There, there, Minerva," Dumbledore said, patting McGonagall's shoulder. "We all eventually start feeling old."

"Albus-"

"We'd really love to stay and chat, but Severus and I have other plans," Hermione said, excusing themselves.

A few hours later, Hermione had finally managed to work their way over to pass several stores, all of which had baby clothes displayed in their store fronts.

Not caring who was around them, Hermione took a chance to look into the windows as they passed and started to slow down. When Severus felt his hand starting to lag behind him, along with the person he was holding on to, he slowed down and looked at what Hermione was staring at.

Bending down to whisper in her ear, Severus said, "We'll go in there when there's not so many prying eyes."

Hermione snapped her head to look up at him, "Really?"

He nodded.

Hermione looked around, "But there's not that many people over here now…"

"If someone happens to see us, do you really want to explain _why_ we were looking at those shops yet? Especially if it's Dumbledore – or worse; McGonagall?"

Hermione laughed, "No; I guess not."

"Good, now that that's settled; how about lunch?" Severus asked.

Luckily for Hermione, they found a restaurant almost right across the street from the stores, so she was able to make comments about what was in the windows from her seat. She had stopped however, when three Ravenclaws walked right into the establishment and were sitting relatively close to them; close enough to eavesdrop anyways.

After lunch, Severus and Hermione started to walk around the rest of Hogsmeade, when they heard an owl that was flying above them; Severus looked up and scowled.

_That bird should _not_ be out right now_, he thought. _There's no way that it can be…_Severus watched as the large, dark grey owl turn towards the direction of Hogwarts and mentally swore.

"Hermione," Severus asked, passing the book store. "Do you need to go in there?"

Hermione looked up and her eyes widened, "Now that you mention it; there's a few books I've been meaning to buy," she said, leading the way into the shop.

Instead of following Hermione back into the book section, Severus went to the side counter and picked up a copy of _The Daily Prophet_ and scowled again, _He's even more stupid that I thought_.

---

"Well," Janie said. "I'm all done with my homework."

Matt looked up from his position under a tree, "Want to do some of mine?"

"Nope," Janie said smiling and pulled out one of her books.

"How about mine?" Scott asked, waving his potion's essay.

Janie shook her head, enjoying the beautiful weather outside. Because it was a Hogsmeade weekend, Janie, Matt, Scott, and Lyss had been able to find a secluded spot in the back of the castle, where all of the seventh years usually hung out.

"How about mine, best buddy?" Lyss asked hopefully.

Janie smiled again, "Nope, sorry."

"Unbelievable," Matt said. "You should share your knowledge with everybody."

"And you shouldn't procrastinate," Janie replied.

Matt grumbled something, when they heard someone approaching them, but when they looked in front of them, or behind Janie, they didn't see anybody.

"That was weird," Matt said, when they heard another noise.

"What the-"

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" A male's voice shouted, but the spell rebounded off of Janie and hit a nearby tree.

Before anybody could get up, another ray of light appeared and struck Janie in the back, "_Infligo_!"

"Janie!" Matt and Lyss shouted, as she fell to the ground, pulling out their wands, only to have them torn away from their hands, when a dark-cloaked figure suddenly appeared and flicked his wand.

As soon as Scott saw what was going on, he started running at full speed to the castle to get Dumbledore. Meanwhile, Lyss ran over to Janie's side, while Matt lunged for his wand.

"_Obliviate_!" The voice yelled, pointing his wand at Matt.

"Matt!" Lyss cried, as Matt hit the tree and the figure bent over and picked up Janie. "JANIE! No, you can't-"

"_Obliviate_!"

As the figure surveyed the scene, he noticed that there was one less person and then saw Scott almost up to the castle, when he raised his wand again.

"_Stupefy_!" The figure yelled and Scott fell to the ground.

Satisfied with his work, the figure threw his invisibility cloak over him and walked to the apparation point with Janie in hand, before disappearing with a "pop."

**---**

"Hermione," Severus asked, after she picked out what she wanted and Severus paid for them, much to Hermione's protests. "You wouldn't mind going back to Hogwarts for a little while, would you? I forgot to do something before we left."

"I don't mind; we walked around most of Hogsmeade already anyways," Hermione replied. "Besides, it's really crowded now; it seems like nobody wants to stay at Hogwarts that don't have to."

"Good; then hardly anybody will be there when we get back," Severus replied.

"Severus," Hermione started, when they started walking back towards the castle. "When do you think we should tell Janie?"

"About what?" He asked absentmindedly, his mind wondering back to the owl.

"About the baby," Hermione replied.

"When do you?"

"It'll probably have to be soon; I'd like us to tell her, before it gets out and she finds out from someone else."

Severus nodded, "She'll be overjoyed."

"And imagine; after all the times we said 'no' – I wonder if she'll think we're liars…" Hermione thought out loud.

"She'll be too giddy with happiness to even care at the moment," Severus remarked.

Hermione sighed, "You're probably right. I guess it'd be best to tell her this weekend, before Monday."

"When are you going to tell your friends?" Severus asked, really not wanting to know the answer; he knew though, that it had to be asked.

"I don't know; I don't want to tell them right away," Hermione said. "They have enough on their plates and besides, they don't need to know yet anyways. And before you ask, I will tell my parents before them, but I'm not too sure when."

"That's fine," Severus said, grateful that he didn't have to deal with anybody else than necessary over the weekend and opened the front doors to Hogwarts.

"Oh…Hermione!" McGonagall called, almost as soon as they entered the Entrance Hall. "Could I talk to you for a bit?"

Hermione looked towards Severus, who nodded.

"Sure," Hermione replied.

_Good,_ Severus thought. _It's better for her if she's not with me when I go downstairs anyways…_

---

"I can't tell you how much of a shock it was to see you and Severus standing there in Hogsmeade before everyone," McGonagall said, pouring herself a cup of tea. "Tea?"

"No thank you," Hermione politely refused.

"Gingersnap?" McGonagall asked, showing Hermione a tin.

"No thank you; I just ate."

"Oh yes; that restaurant has wonderful food, doesn't it?" McGonagall asked casually.

Hermione looked at the witch sitting across from her wearily, "How did you know?"

"I was walking with my cousin and saw you two go in," she said. "In fact, Mabel almost ran into you two, when you suddenly stopped," McGonagall said, looking at Hermione with a knowing eye.

"Really?" Hermione said, trying not to sound too nervous. "I didn't even see you there."

The older witch nodded, "And I heard what Severus said too; there's no way _I'm _worse than Dumbledore.

Hermione started to twiddle her fingers together, "You heard that too?"

"It was kind of hard not to, dear; so, did you see anything interesting in those shops?"

"What shops? We didn't go in any shops," Hermione replied.

"You didn't go into any of the shops that you were staring at?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course not," Hermione said. "Why would we?"

McGonagall looked at Hermione, her eyes flashing towards her hands, which were nervously fidgeting in front of her stomach. As soon as Hermione saw her, she immediately stopped.

"You've been doing a lot of that lately," McGonagall commented.

"Really? I haven't noticed…" Hermione trailed off, not wanting to look at McGonagall, seeing as she was now backed into a corner.

"Yes, you tend to do that subconsciously a lot; especially during meals in the Great Hall, when Severus is sitting next to you," McGonagall pointed out, while Hermione refused to look at her.

"So, did you tell Severus yet?"

Hermione looked up, "What?"

"If what I saw and heard today isn't a lie, then you're preg-"

"_Please_ don't tell anybody; I _just_ told Severus yesterday," Hermione pleaded.

McGonagall's eyes sparkled, "So I'm correct?"

Hermione nodded.

"This is _delightful_!" McGonagall exclaimed, jumping up from her seat and ran over to hug Hermione. "This is such splendid news!"

"Please, Minerva," Hermione said. "_Please_ don't tell anybody yet; Severus and I haven't told anyone yet…not even Janie."

McGonagall looked Hermione in the eye, "I promise…not even Dumbledore. But in the event of an emergency…"

"Then you're allowed," Hermione said and McGonagall hugged her again. "This is such good news! How long?"

"Nearly two months," Hermione replied.

"I'm so happy for the both of you!" McGonagall said cheerfully.

Hermione smiled, as her friend and colleague sat back down and started up a completely new conversation.

---

When Hermione returned back to her quarters, she couldn't find Severus anywhere, until she found a hastily-scribbled note sitting on the kitchen counter:

_Hermione,_

_I had to run out for a little bit; I'll be back later._

_-Severus_

_I wonder where he went_, Hermione thought, pulling out one of her new books and sat down.

Hermione didn't even get a chance to open the cover of the book, before the fireplace erupted in green flames. Thinking that it was just Severus, Hermione didn't even bother to look up, but when she heard the voice that came through the fireplace, Hermione froze.

"Granger," the voice called. "Granger, I _need _to talk to you."

Hermione put her book down and walked over to the fireplace, crossing her arms over her chest, "What Malfoy?"

"It's about Snape-"

Hermione uncrossed her arms, "What about him?"

"He needs our help-"

"I doubt that he came to you for it," Hermione remarked.

"Please Granger, just listen to me; he's my godfather and I don't want him getting hurt."

"Then why would you come to me?" Hermione asked, trying to keep the worry apparent in her voice.

"Just listen; my father sent Snape a letter-"

"But Severus wouldn't go-"

"He said that he had Janie."

Hermione almost hit the floor, "He said…but Janie's here, at Hogwarts…Severus should know that."

Draco shook his head.

"What do you mean, no?" Hermione nearly yelled.

"That brings us to another thing; can I come through?" Draco asked.

Hermione barely nodded, before the flames erupted in a green outburst and Janie came running out, followed by Draco.

"Mum!" Janie exclaimed, running to Hermione and hugging her.

"Oh my gods, Janie," Hermione replied, hugging her crying daughter back.  
"My father sent Zeek to get her," Draco said quietly. "He then came to my house and dropped her off, telling me to 'keep her quiet,' before telling me why."

Hermione looked up, "Why?"  
"Apparently, after what happened as what Zeek called the 'bar incident,' he went to my father and it not only presented the perfect opportunity for Zeek's revenge, but my father's as well. Zeek then told me that they have been planning my father's breakout since Christmas-"

"But why would _you _care?" Hermione asked, tears running down her face.

"Like I said, Snape is my godfather and he saved my life during the war; I can't let my father get to him," Draco explained.

"Where are they now?" Hermione asked, standing up.

"Snape went to meet them both at some abandoned factory of some sort…I couldn't come to you until Zeek left to meet Snape at the factory. It's not good Granger; what they're threatening to do…isn't good – you're not safe either."

"Then why do you need _my _help?" Hermione bit.

"Because you're the smartest person I could think of and I know that Snape will listen to me; Zeek told me about you two...and I read _The Daily Prophet_. It pains me to say it, but I'm…glad that my godfather has finally found somebody to make him happy – even if it's you," Draco said, biting back all of the cutting remarks he _could_ make.

Hermione looked at him, "I need to drop Janie off somewhere safe."

Draco nodded. "I'll be back in a minute," he said and disappeared through the green flames.

Janie looked up at her mother with tearful eyes, "Mum, what's going on? Where's dad?"

"Janie," Hermione said. "I don't know what you know-"

"I woke up and that boy…Draco, he said to call him, was there and told me that it was alright and that he was friends with dad and knew you and Dumbledore. He said that he would take me home once his brother…your client left. I can't believe it was _him_, Mum; he used to come to our _house_! But where's dad? Why is he in trouble? He can't be in troub-"

"Janie," Hermione said, gently grabbing her daughter's hands. "Draco and I are going to go and get your father-"

"But what if you two get into trouble too? Then what am I going to do? I want _both_ of my parents!" Janie said, unable to hold the tears back anymore. "You _both_ have to be alright…I can't live without two parents again!"

"Janie," Hermione said soothingly. "It's going to be alright; Remus is going to be there for you while your father and I are away. Don't worry; we're going to get him back," Hermione said, trying hard not to let her tears start falling as well. "We're going to get him out of whatever he's stuck in-"

"But he just _can't_ be in trouble!" Janie cried. "He's one of the best wizards! He's better at everything! He can't get hurt…what if he…" Janie stopped talking and started bawling.

This time however, Hermione couldn't help but let the tears fall as well, "Janie, I'm going to leave you with Remus while we go to get your father; you'll be safe there until we get back. It's very important that you don't try to leave and find us, alright Janie?" Hermione asked, holding her daughter's shoulder.

Janie nodded, "I promise. But you have to promise that…that you'll come back safely…and that…that you'll bring dad back home safely," Janie said.

Hermione tried smiling through her tears, "I'll try my hardest. Now I'm going to floo Remus, alright?" Hermione asked, drying her eyes with her sleeve.

Janie nodded and dried her eyes as well, as Hermione grabbed floo powder, threw it into the fireplace, and called out, "Remus Lupin's quarters."

"Remus!" Hermione called, once she saw him living room.

"Hermione?" Remus asked, walking into the room.

"Remus, I need you to do me a huge favor," Hermione asked politely.

"Sure, what is it?" He smiled.

"Can you _please_ watch Janie for me? Something extremely urgent has come up and I need you to _watch_ her."

"Alright," Remus agreed suspiciously, as Janie walked through the fireplace.

"And please Remus, _don't_ let her leave your quarters; it would be wise for you to be prepared for _anything_ and _please_…_ward_ your fireplace."

"Hermione, what's going on?" Remus asked worriedly.

"It's Severus," Hermione said. "Remus, I have to go; someone's trying to get through the floo."

As soon as Hermione's head had disappeared, Remus turned to Janie, who was staring blankly at the fireplace.

"Janie, what's going on? What happened to your father?" Remus asked.

Janie looked up at him with sad eyes, "I don't know; they won't tell me. Remus, my dad's in trouble and I don't know why, and I can't do anything about it," Janie said, her voice quivering.

"Who's '_they_,' Janie?" Remus asked, grabbing a pinch full of floo powder and throwing it into the fireplace.

"My mum and Draco-"

"_Draco_ Malfoy?" Remus asked.

"Yes; he brought me back here. He and my mum left to go and get my dad-"

"This isn't good," Remus muttered to himself, so that Janie wouldn't hear. "Godric's Hallow," he called out, sticking his head into the fireplace.

"Harry," Remus called.

"Remus?" Harry replied, walking into the room.

"This isn't a bad time, is it?" Remus asked.

"No," Harry said. "I was just looking though some papers; Ginny had to go to St. Mungo's today. Is there something wrong?"

"Have you spoken to Hermione today?"

"No, I haven't," Harry replied, kneeling down in front of the fireplace. "Why?"

"You'd better come through," Remus said, and in seconds, Harry was dusting himself off on Remus' rug.

"Uncle Harry!" Janie exclaimed, running up to Harry and then hugged him.

"Jaz; what's wrong?" Harry asked concerned. Turning his upper body around, Harry asked, "Remus, what's wrong? Where's Hermione and Snape?"

Janie looked up to look at Harry's face, "Harry, my dad's in trouble…My mum and Draco went to get him…"

"Draco _Malfoy_?" Harry blurted out.

Janie nodded, "That's him; he said that he was a friend of my dad's and knew my mum and Professor Dumbledore."

"Have you been reading the _Prophet_?" Remus asked.

Harry nodded, "It's been kind of hard not to – you don't think…"

"Then why else would Draco be involved?" Remus asked.

Janie looked up again, "What's going on?"

"I'm going to floo Ron," Harry said, and Janie let go of him.

"Janie," Remus started, crouching down. "Did Hermione talk to Dumbledore about this at all?"

Janie shook her head, "I don't think so."

"What's wrong?" Ron asked as he walked through the fireplace. "Janie, what's going on? Where's Hermione?"

"We don't know; all Hermione told me was to watch Janie, not to let her leave my quarters, and also told me to ward my fireplace," Remus informed them, taking out his wand and warded his fireplace and quarters against any unwanted guests. "Hermione and Draco-"

"_Draco_?" Ron spit. "What's _he_ got to do with anything?"

"Ron, please," Remus said, as Harry plopped down on one of the couches. "They haven't told Janie much and Hermione didn't talk to Albus before she left. All we know is what Janie has said: she was taken from Hogwarts, given to Draco, who gave her back to Hermione, where she found out that Severus had gone somewhere. Nothing more was said," Remus said, pacing around in front of his couch.

"_Taken_," Ron exclaimed. "From _Hogwarts_?"

"Yes," Remus said. "We've surmised that much. Janie, can you tell us what happened?"

Janie nodded her head and began telling them what she remembered.

---

"Granger, you'd better take this," Draco said, handing Hermione an invisibility cloak.

Hermione took the cloak and then looked up at Draco, "Thank you Draco, for bringing Janie back home."

Draco looked up, "Well, she's Snape's daughter and I couldn't let anything happen to her; you know, I didn't even know that he _had_ a daughter, neverless was involved with _you_."

It took all of Hermione's will power not to retort back to Draco's remark and luckily, he started speaking again before she let her tongue go.

"I'm pretty sure they'll either feel or hear the apparation, so we're going to floo over there; there's a fireplace in one of the boss' abandoned offices," Draco said. "Zeek took me over there during the week, but he said it was for 'business purposes.'"

"No offense Malfoy, but I don't like your brother very much," Hermione said, as he took a fistful of floo powder.

Draco paused to look up at her, "Yeah, well you have to learn to live with him; I try not to talk to him too much – lately, he hasn't been making a good impression with me. Before you step into the fireplace, make sure the cloak's on; I don't know where Zeek is and I highly doubt that Snape or my father are going to be in the office – they're probably in the abandoned industrial part. And while you're there, you might be under the cloak, but they can still _hear_ you. Alright, ready?"

Hermione nodded and threw the cloak over her shoulders, making sure to tie it tightly.

In less than a minute, Hermione and Draco had left the old boss' office and entered the dimly lit hallway. After walking for what felt like several minutes, Hermione and Draco nearly tripped over something blocking their way.

"_Lumos_," Draco whispered and Hermione gasped: Zeek Malfoy was lying unconscious at their feet. From the large impression in the wall, it was clear that Zeek had been blasted into the wall and wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.

"_Damn_," Draco muttered. "Snape _really_ must be pissed."

Hermione followed Draco as he stepped over his brother and turned another corner, "It's right passed here…"

Hermione held her breath in anticipation as they walked down another long stretch of hallway and came to a closed door at the very end. Draco silently pushed the door open and they were met with yet another hallway, which soon opened up to a very large and surprisingly well-lit room.

Hermione looked out to the scene in front of her: Severus had leapt sideways as a spell rushed passed him, while Lucius stood a good ways away from him with his wand drawn, his hollow eyes filled with hatred.

"Oh good, Draco; you're finally here," Lucius said. "Come to join in on the fun?"

"I think I'll just watch for now," Draco replied.

Lucius raised his eyebrow, "Are you sure? I'm sure you can prove to be a better help than your brother was…is the object safe?"

Draco forced his eyes to stay focused on his father and not flicker towards Hermione, "Yes, Father."

"Good…good-" Lucius was cut off however, as a spell soared at him and he caught in just in time to deflect it.

"Now, now Severus, what have you always taught your students about cursing someone behind their back?"

"Sorry, but I learned from the best," he said, looking Lucius right in the eye.

Lucius looked absolutely furious, "_Cruci-_"

"_Impedimenta_," Snape shouted and the curse hit Lucius in the chest. "My, my Lucius; it seems that you've gotten slow in your old age," Snape said, walking out of the way and releasing the spell, letting the _Crucio_ hit the wall behind him.

Several harmful spells were cast and Hermione felt helpless to just watch everything, especially when one had hit Severus and sent him flying backwards several feet, before plowing into the ground. Lucius thought he had one over him, until Snape came back and aimed a hair scorching spell at his head, but luckily for him, it hit the wall just a hair above his own head. Lucius went to send another blast at Snape, but the one that the dark-haired wizard sent out, reached the blonde first and sent him to the floor. Once he was down for several moments, Snape took the chance to glance over at Draco, when Hermione decided to reveal that she was there, by poking her head out. As soon as Severus saw Hermione, his face softened for a split second, before turning into a harsh scowl.

"_Get her out of here, Draco,_" he thought.

Draco narrowed his eyes at his godfather and didn't move. While the staring contest was going on between the two, they didn't see Lucius stand up and fire a spell at Severus, who was thrown back with such a great force, it propelled him across the rest of the room and slammed him into the wall behind him.

The moment Severus hit the wall, Hermione let the cloak fall from around her, but Draco caught it and threw it back over her.

"You see Draco, that's how it's done; all that's left to do is finish him off and then we ca-"

"Stop it!" Hermione cried, letting the cloak hit the floor. "Just stop it!"

Lucius looked amused, "Why Draco, you brought the little mudblood along to play! How very thoughtful of you; now we have the _whole_ family here!"

"You," Hermione seethed, pulling her wand out, making Lucius point his at her, a hex playing at his lips when Draco stood in front of Hermione.

"Draco, _what_ are you _doing_?"

Draco stared at his father with defiance shinning through his eyes.

"_Move _out of the way!"

"No," Draco said, pulling his wand out. "This _has _to stop; you've gone _too _far. I'm _tired_ of playing your games; Dumbledore was right; I _don't_ want to be the man you are."

Lucius bit his bottom lip and with a flick of his wand, Draco was on the floor, leaving Hermione completely exposed.

Not even a second after Draco had hit the floor, Lucius had send another spell at Hermione, who didn't have time to draw her wand and turned around to protect herself. The spell hit her square in the shoulders and lifted her right off her feet, right as Severus opened his eyes and saw what was going on. Right when Hermione was about to hit a beam, Draco looked up and waved his wand, stopping Hermione in midair and gently lowered her back to the floor.

"Lucius!" Snape roared, firing off hex after hex at the estranged man.

"Oh, did I strike a nerve?" He asked, his eyebrows raised. "Well then, let me tell you my plan; _Imperio_!"

When the spell hit Severus, he seemed to fight it off for a few moments, before Lucius increased the power and made Snape drop his wand.

"There, now that's better," Lucius said. "I don't appreciate what you did to my son, Severus; publicly humiliating him in a _muggle_ bar. And you did it to protect your mudblood, no less. My Severus, how far you have fallen from your…previous…life."

"Most would say it's an improvement," Severus bit out, before Lucius flicked his wand and Severus fell to his knees. "Like I was saying – Draco, _don't __**touch**__her_!"

Draco snapped his head up and took a step away from Hermione.

"You touch her again and don't think that I won't hex you too; you haven't been disciplined in a while."

Draco looked at his father in shock, before Lucius turned back towards Severus, "Severus, you have crossed me too many times and it ends now." He flicked his wand again at Severus, who was trying his hardest to fight the _Imperius_, but every time that he even got remotely close to breaking through it, Lucius would flick his wand and make the curse stronger.

"You know, Severus, I'm not going to kill you; I'm going to do much worse – I'm going to make you _wish_ that you were dead. The only way to really break a man is to make him watch as the things he loves most are ripped right out from under his very feet. That's what I'm going to do to you, Severus; how very lucky you are. I'll start with the mudblood and then we'll bring the little girl here too; her names Janie, right?"

Severus looked at him with wide eyes.

"Yes, this will be quite fun for me; Draco, you may want to watch and take a few pointers," Lucius said and walked over to where Hermione was laying unconscious on the ground. "But you're going to do it without your wand; give me your wand Draco," Lucius said, holding out his pale hand.

"No, father," Draco said, walking up to his father.

"I'm not taking any chances with you helping him," Lucius said and ripped his son's wand away from him and snapped it in half.

"_Father_!" Draco said and lunged for his wand, Lucius knocking him over with one shove, and a loud _crack_ was heard when he hit the floor.

Draco looked up from the floor to see his father hunched over Hermione, when he felt a huge rush of magic come from behind him. Turning his head, he saw that Snape had managed to break off the _Imperius _and was trembling to his feet, his hand clenched tightly in his hand.

"Yes, I will enjoy this very much; _Cruc-_"

"LUCIUS!" Snape bellowed and Lucius turned just in time to see a fiery, red jet of light headed in his direction.

After Lucius had managed to climb back onto his feet, he fumbled his wand for a second and pointed it right at Hermione, "_Av-_"

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!" Snape yelled, pointing his wand right at Lucius' heart.

Instead of just a bright, rushing green light being emitted from his wand, a red one came out at the same time, and when both curses hit the blonde, he went flying through the thin dry-wall wall behind him and hit the wall in the other room. Once the spells left Snape's wand, he fell to the floor in a shaking mess. It took him several long seconds to gather enough strength to be able to crawl over to Hermione and check her pulse. Once he was sure that she had one and was still breathing, he hung his head down in relief, when he heard several "pops" off in the distance.

Quickly taking out his wand, Severus whispered a spell and held his wand over Hermione's stomach, when he heard Draco's voices stopping everybody who had ran into the room. When the tip of his wand started to glow blue, Severus felt a huge wave of relief wash over him and gently laid his hand on the top of Hermione's stomach; if something _had_ happened, he didn't know what he would do…or what Hermione would do.

"Is she alright?" Draco asked, walking up behind them. "Dumbledore's here…along with Moody, McGonagall, Tonks, Madam Pomfrey, Shacklebot, and…_Potter_. Are you alright?" Draco asked, gently laying his hand on Severus' shoulder, who jerked away from him.

"They're both breathing," Draco said over his shoulder, as Dumbledore walked up behind them.

"Severus," Dumbledore started calmly. "What you did was in an act of defense; Lucius was ready to kill not only you and Hermione, but Janie as well – I'm _not_ going to let them persecute you for this."

Severus pretended to ignore Dumbledore and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry that Janie was able to be taken away from Hogwarts so easily; the security has been tightened all around the castle. Since Voldemort's fall, some of the larger spells were taken off of Hogwarts…but it was hard Severus; Zeek walked right up like any normal visitor did – we weren't expecting that. Young Mr. Malfoy is now in custody, Severus, and Tonks and Shacklebot are taking Lucius away from here; Draco has also given us a brief run through of what happened. You're safe now, Severus; you can get up now-" Dumbledore stopped, as Severus started shaking again; he had tried hiding it from Dumbledore at first, but it had become too hard to do so.

"Draco, what spells hit Severus?" The old wizard asked.

"He was under a strong _Imperius_ for a while, before he broke it…"

"Poppy," Dumbledore called.

"Severus, we need to get you and Hermione medical attention; don't worry, we're not going to take you to St. Mungo's. Severus…please."

"No," he replied.

"Severus, this is silly," Madam Pomfrey said. "Get up."

"No," Severus grounded out. "I'm _not_ leaving her."

"Severus, you're going back to Hog-" Dumbledore said, laying his hand on Severus' back.

"Don't touch me," Snape bit.

"Severus!" Poppy reprimanded.

"Wait!" McGonagall exclaimed, bustling up to the small group.

"Wait what?" The mediwitch asked. "We're not going anywhere; we can't use any spells on him, because of how long he was inflicted by the _Imperius_. His magical energy is probably so low at the moment, he can't even levitate a feather."

"It's not that," McGonagall said and leant over to whisper in Madam Pomfrey's ear. "Hermione's pregnant."

She looked at McGonagall with wide eyes, "Are you serious?" She whispered.

The Head of Gryffindor nodded.

"Severus," Poppy started. "You _need_ to get up-"

"No-"

"It's urgent-"

"Sod off-"

"Stop acting like a bloody child, Severus!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, walking over to him and tried to pull him away from Hermione.

"I said _don't touch m-_" Severus was cut off, as Draco walked up behind him, with his shoe in hand, and hit him behind the ear so hard, it knocked him out cold. As Snape fell onto Hermione, a crumpled up piece of paper fell out of his pocket and Dumbledore picked it up, seeing as he was the only one who noticed it.

"What?" Draco asked, when he saw everybody's eyes on him. "We couldn't use any spells and he wouldn't cooperate; we would have been here for_ever_."

"Well, we know why Severus was lured here in the first place," he said, reading the piece of parchment.

"What does it say?" McGonagall asked and Dumbledore handed her the slip of paper:

"_I have your little daughter, Severus; look for yourself – I bet you won't find her. Send me an owl when you get this; you don't want anything bad happening to her now, would you?_"

**A/N: _Infligo _in Latin basically means "knockout;" Janie's pendant wasn't able to recognize the spell, because it wasn't one that was often used and was more of a "created" charm. Thanks to everybody who has read and reviewed so far - it really is appreciated. Due to a lack of time, I really didn't get to repsond to any reviews from last chapter, but I'm hoping that my time will open up and I'll be able to reply to more in the future. If anybody's in search of another read, I posted a one-shot (potential for a longer story, once I finish this one) up that is also HG/SS; it's called _Hear You Me_. For this story, I think it might have one more major chapter left and then an epilogue; also, when I'm done with my other story I'm currently writing, there's a chance that I might write a sequel, if enough people are interested. On a side note, I've added a forum and a few extra things on my website, which the link can be found as my homepage on my profile.**


	27. Home PI

**Disclaimer: Snape thrusts a bunch of papers at author "What's this?" Looks down shocked. "I knew I was taking too long! It hasn't been as long as last time though!" Snape narrows eyes at the author and crosses his arms "Okay, by a few days..._I'm really sorry_. And I don't own Harry Potter nor am I making any money off of this...all rights belong to J.K. Rowling. Also, _To Kill a Mockingbird_ belongs to Harper Lee.**

**A/N: Sorry that it has taken so long for me to update, but some other things had gotten in the way that made it hard for me to write for a while. I know that it's a little shorter than all of the others so far, but I'm working on the rest of the chapter now. I wanted to get something out before _Deathly Hallows _comes out (can't wait!) and I know that I said that this was supposed to be the last chapter before the epilogue, but I had to split chapter 25 up and then I realized that I could really add more than just end it where I wanted too.**

**---**

"How are they?" Harry asked, standing next to the Hospital Wing's door.

McGonagall sighed, looking back towards the end of the wing, "They'll make it; they're both in a stable condition now, but they're still unconscious. One of them started to awake – I believe it was Hermione, but Poppy had to give her a heaving sleeping draught; she needed to rest, especially in her condition. The last thing that we need is for her to get worked up about Severus."

"Speaking of Professor Snape, how is he?" Harry asked, glancing back towards the closed curtains.

"It's a wonder how that boy was able to do what he did; he was so drained of energy by the time Draco knocked him out, I'm shocked that the Killing Curse didn't knock him out first into a coma. By what Mr. Malfoy explained, I'm even surprised that Severus was able to shoot a spell out _along_ with _Avada Kedavra_. God only knows how long Severus and Lucius were fighting before Hermione and Draco intervened. If they hadn't, I don't even want to think about what could have happened," McGonagall said and then looked right at Harry. "How's Janie?"

"I talked to Remus a little while ago and he said that she had fallen asleep. When are we going to tell her about her parents? If she wakes up and they're still not there, she's going to panic, and I don't want her to go through that," Harry said.

McGonagall nodded, "I think it would be best if you woke Janie up and tell her. I don't really think that she can see them now, but perhaps after dinner…"

"Do you think we should wake her up after dinner? Janie's stubborn; she won't eat until she knows that her parents are back," Harry pointed out. "Or rather, sees them…"

McGonagall nodded when the fireplace at the end of the wing erupted in green flames.

"Harry," Remus called. "Could I talk to you…_now_?"

Harry looked towards McGonagall, who ushered him towards the fireplace.

"Could you come through?" Remus asked quickly.

As soon as Harry stepped thought the fireplace and tumbled out, he was bombarded by whispered questions.

"What happened? How is she? Why are you alo-"

"Uncle Ron!" Janie exclaimed, running into the room. "You still didn't answer my ques-Uncle Harry!" Janie cried out, running over and hugging him. "Where are my mum and dad? They're not back yet; she _promised_ that she would bring-"

"Hold your horses, Janie," Harry said calmly. "Your parents came back a little while ago."

"They're both here? They're both safe?" Janie asked urgently.

Harry crouched down so that he was level with her and put a friendly hand on her shoulder, "They're both here-"

Janie looked around, "Where?"

"They're in the Hospital Wing-"

"What?" Janie asked with shocked eyes. "Why there?" She asked urgently.

"Janie," Harry said comfortingly. "To get your dad back…there was a fight; everybody involved was…injured in…some way…"

"What do you mean _injured_?" Janie asked, her voice small.

"Draco broke his arm, Zeek, well…I don't know exactly _what_ happened to him; Lucius-"

"Harry," Janie said seriously. "What happened to my _mum and dad_?"

"Well," Harry started, a little hesitantly. "Your mum woke up a little while ago, but now she's sleeping."

"And my dad?"

"Your dad...Janie, you need to understand that sometimes, magic doesn't heal as fast as muggle things do…your dad was hit with several curses-"

"You said that they were safe!" Janie cut him off, backing away from him. "_She_ said that she would bring him back safely!"

"She did, Janie; your father is here, safe at Hogwarts," Harry said, as Janie started backing up towards Remus' quarter's door. "She went back and brought your father back; he's alive, Janie – not everybody made it out of there alive."

"Harry, please stop," Janie said, on the verge of tears.

"She brought him ba-" Harry stopped, when Janie came back-to-back with the door, opened it, and slipped out.

"Janie!" Harry called, but she was already out the door and running down the hallway.

"Janie?" Ron asked, once he had reopened the door that Janie shut. "She's already gone, Harry; she's wickedly fast…"

Harry sighed, "I'll go this way and you take the secret passage and we'll try to head her off-"

"We're wasting time talked," Ron pointed out.

"You're right; let's go," Harry said, as Remus watched, holding a pinch full of floo powder.

---

Once Janie had made it to the Hospital Wing, in record time, she looked behind her and grinned when she didn't see any sign of Harry or Ron.

"I was warned that you might come," McGonagall said, walking towards Janie when she heard her running footsteps stop. "I was expecting you a little later though," McGonagall said, her face softening a little and then motioned her to follow her to the end of the Hospital Wing, passing Draco on the way.

When McGonagall stopped and looked at Janie, who was breathing heavily, she offered her a seat on a bed across from her parents' enclosed space.

"Did you run all the way down here from Remus' quarters?"

Janie nodded as she heard Madam Pomfrey's voice ushering away Harry and Ron.

"Would you like any water?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Janie shook her head, "My par-"

"They're all doing fine; your mother's sleeping and your father's status is rising, however, he is still unconscious as of now."

"Excuse me, Professor, but they're _all_ doing fine? You mean Draco's alright too, right?" She asked, slightly pointing towards his bed down the wing.

"No dear, I mean your father, mother, and the b-" McGonagall immediately stopped and mentally slapped herself.

_Oh dear_, she thought. _Severus is going to have my head now_; _Hermione on the other hand…_

Janie's eyes sparkled, "The baby? They're going to have a _baby_?"

"Sometime in November," Madam Pomfrey replied nonchalantly, walking passed the two to another bed.

"And they didn't tell me?" Janie asked, looking across the room.

"Janie," Professor McGonagall started. "It's very important that you don't tell _any_body, alright? Your mother and father haven't told anybody yet-"

"Then how do you know that, Professor?" Janie questioned politely.

McGonagall smiled, "I guess you can say that it was woman's intuition."

Janie looked up at her Professor, which reminded McGonagall very much of Hermione when she was Janie's age, "When can I see them?"

McGonagall looked at her with a trace of sadness in her eyes, "How about you eat dinner first? I'm sure Misters Potter and Weasley are still here…in fact, have them take you _out_ for dinner."

Janie looked at her Professor with wide eyes, "I can…I can _leave _the castle?"

"It would do well to take your mind off of things – I'm sure that the Headmaster would agree with me on this one. I'm also positive that Potter and Weasley would enjoy taking their niece out for a while." McGonagall said and then lowered her voice, "Now is a good time if you need to get anything while you're out."

Janie looked up at her, "Are you really sure?"

Her older mentor nodded, "I'm going to get them right now."

"But they'll buy me anything…especially now," Janie added the last part sadly.

"Just don't let your parents find out right away," McGonagall said.

---

Harry and Ron had ended up taking Janie out to Diagon Alley for the rest of the evening, where Dumbledore had surprisingly appeared and talked to Harry, telling him that it 'would be best' if Janie spent the night at his house. He reasoned that Janie didn't need to be around all of the questioning, since the attack on her, Lyss, Matt, and Scott had somehow spread around the entire school.

The next morning, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Janie went out for breakfast, with the promise to Janie that they would go back to Hogwarts immediately afterwards. Luckily, when they had arrived at the castle, they didn't run into any curious students running throughout the halls, seeing as it was still early. In fact, the only person that they _did_ see in the corridors, was a tall woman, walking towards the entrance gargoyle to Dumbledore's office.

"We were wondering when you…four…would show up," Madam Pomfrey said.

"Ginny luckily didn't have to work today," Harry said.

"I would have taken off anyways," Ginny said. "Hermione's my _best_ friend; I _have_ to be here for her."

"Good morning Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Janie," McGonagall greeted, before turning to Janie and leading her to the end of the wing; Janie smiling to Draco as she passed (which earned a scowl from Ron).

"How are they, Professor?" Janie asked, stopping outside of the curtained-off area.

McGonagall stopped and turned to face the young witch, "Your mother is sleeping-"

"I thought she was sleeping yesterday," Janie said. "Professor," she added, seeing the look on the Head of Gryffindor's face.

"She was, but Madam Pomfrey had to ensure that she gets her rest, especially in her condition. If your mother were to wake up yesterday, she would have been worried sick about your father and wouldn't have gotten any rest."

"Like she really didn't when I was in that Quidditch accident," Janie said.

McGonagall nodded. "Now, I'm sure you're anxious to see them, but I must ask that you remain quiet," she asked, and in return, four heads nodded.

"And I don't want all four of you hoarding around Ms. Granger's bed, and their charts are _private_," Madam Pomfrey said. "Mister Potter and Mister Weasley, that means that it's none of your business; don't make me have to take them out of the room," Madam Pomfrey continued, pointing an accusatory finger at the two boys.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Harry said, while Ron just nodded.

"Alright, you can go in," she said.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," several voices said at the same time.

She nodded and right as she was about to follow the four in, a hand reached out and stopped her.

"Poppy, can I talk to you for a moment, please?" McGonagall asked politely.

"Sure, Minerva-"

"Not here, can we go in your office? With Potter and Weasley around, you can never be too careful…"

"Sure, sure," the Mediwitch quickly replied, leading the way into her office.

"Oh, don't shut the door," McGonagall said, grabbing the closing door. "I still need to see out of it; I can't get the proper that I need from the window."

Madam Pomfrey shot her friend a confused look, "Minerva, what is going on?"

"We've run into a bit of a problem…Eileen is here," McGonagall announced.

"Severus' mother?"

McGonagall nodded.

"Does she…"  
"She doesn't know what happened yet; she's here to visit him. She's talking with Dumbledore now; he said that he would explain everything that had happened yesterday to her – apparently, she doesn't read the _Prophet_."

"Then what's the big problem?" Poppy asked.

"She doesn't know about Hermione-"

"That she's pregnant?"

"No; she doesn't know anything about what Severus has been up to for the past few years – not about Hermione, Janie, the engagement, or the baby…"

Pomfrey gave a small laugh, "Severus is going to be dead…that poor boy. Now he's going to know what it's like to be terrorized; I just hope that I'm there to see it."

McGonagall gave her a reprimanding look, "Whatever you do, do _not_ tell her about Janie or Hermione yet. After I'm done talking to you, I'm going to speak with Janie about it," she said and poked her head around the partially shut door to see if anybody was coming. "I suspect Dumbledore to be nearly finished right now, which means Eileen will be coming down here shortly. Could you do me a favor? Can you send Janie in here, please?"

Madam Pomfrey nodded, "Sure thing."

---

"Wow, it's almost exactly the same as we left it!" Ron exclaimed, after looking around the Hogwarts' kitchen.

"Mister Potter!" A squeaky voice exclaimed.

Harry wheeled around to see Dobby standing, looking at him with bright and excited eyes, "Professor, she said that an old friend would be coming down, but she never said it was Harry Potter!"

"Hi Dobby," Harry said smiling. "How's Hogwarts?"

"Dobby, sir, loves Hogwarts! Headmaster gave Dobby a raise at the beginning of the year and extra vacation time for Christmas, sir!"

"Really? That's wonderful!" Harry replied.

"Now, come Mister Potter and – Mister Weasley! And," Dobby paused to gasp. "Miss Snape!" He exclaimed, scurrying up to Janie. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Snape. Dobby has wondered when he'd be meeting the daughter of Professor Snape and Ms. Hermione Granger, yes he has!" Dobby turned to look at Harry, "Is Ms. Hermione Granger still making those…those _hats_?"

Harry laughed, "No, not anymore."

"Sir, did you know that most of the house elves were afraid to clean their quarters, because of her hats? But Dobby wasn't; Dobby's free and doesn't have to worry about hats! Now come; there's lots to eat – Dobby will prepare your favorites."

---

"How long has he been like this?" Severus' mother asked quietly, after she saw him.

"Since around three o'clock yesterday afternoon," Dumbledore answered.

"How long do you expect him to be out?" Came her next question.

"We were hoping that it would only last one to two days, but seeing all of the magical energy he release, it could be longer," Dumbledore explained.

"You know, I've always told him that Lucius Malfoy was one to watch out for; I always knew he would turn into a bad egg," she said, sitting down in a chair by Severus' bed. "Definitely not on to be trusted," she said, shifting her attention to the bed next door.

"Is that the lady that you were talking about?" She asked, pointing discreetly at Hermione.

"Yes, that's Ms. Granger," Dumbledore confirmed.

"Is she the one that he mentioned in his letter? He said that he had 'met a nice girl…'"

Dumbledore nodded.

"He must really care about her then, because the Severus I know wouldn't do that for just anybody," she said.

"She's pretty," Eileen said after a few moments of silence. "Is she going to be alright?"

Dumbledore nodded, "She's on a sleeping potion right now."

"Severus needs some happiness in his life, even if he thinks at times that he may not deserve it. Sometimes, I wish I could hit him right upside the head; the boy is extremely intelligent, but he can be so daft at times, it's unbelievable!

"When Severus came back from his second year here, he brought back this potion for me that ate away any dirt and grime; he said that he had made it himself. His father, of course, wasn't happy, but I loved it. It worked wonders and the one day, the family cat came in all muddy and Severus wanted to see if it would work on the cat as well. I told him that it wasn't a good idea, but the boy went right on with it anyways and the potion ended up eating the fur right off of the poor cat's paws."

"Stubborn as always I see," Dumbledore said.

She nodded, when something caught her eye. Getting up, she walked over to Hermione's bed and started to look at something. When Dumbledore opened his mouth to ask, Severus' mother carefully lifted Hermione's hand and showed it to Dumbledore.

"Is this from him?" She asked, pointed at her son.

Dumbledore nodded, "Lovely, isn't it?"

The news or the ring?" Madam Pomfrey asked, coming in momentarily to collect their charts.

"Both," Eileen replied.

"If you ask me, I would have said the ring; it's gorgeous," Madam Pomfrey replied, before walking out.

"How long?" She asked Dumbledore.

"Since right before Christmas," Dumbledore replied.

"And that boy never told me!" She cried, moving back to her seat, but stopped at her son's bed. "Severus, if you were conscious right now, I'd hit you over the head," she said, pointing an accusing finger at him.

Looking at the clock, Dumbledore noticed that Hermione and Severus' other company were due to arrive back soon.

"Eileen, am I correct to say that you would like to stay here for a few days, until Severus is on his feet again?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

She looked at him, "That would be splendid. I really wasn't going to stay, but how can I leave him now?"

"I understand completely. You're still good friends with Minerva, correct?"

Eileen nodded.

"You wouldn't mind staying with her, would you? I'd let you stay in Severus' quarters, but I'm sure by now that he's warded me out," Dumbledore said. "Apparently, he didn't take too kindly to the idea of me visiting, after I dumped him into a cold shower one morning to wake him up."

---

Dumbledore had planned the timing so perfectly between the two had sets of people that Eileen was only in the room with Janie, Harry, Ron, and Ginny for only an hour.

The next morning, Janie had classes, but made sure that she was up extra early, so she could go down to the Hospital Wing and check on her parents. The night before, Dumbledore had told the school that there had been an accident, in which both Professors Snape and Granger were injured and in the Hospital Wing for. When Janie had walked in the next morning, usually the first thing she saw were her cards sitting on their end tables, but now, both of their tables were overflowing with items, Janie's cards being moved to their side tables. Madam Pomfrey had come in and talked to Janie before breakfast and asked her how school was going and then after Charms, her first class, Janie was able to visit her parents again, but it wasn't for very long.

When she walked in, McGonagall was talking to Madam Pomfrey in her office and there were now a case of books at the foot of each of her parent's beds. Janie raised an eyebrow at the cases and went over to check one of the tags.

_While you're recuperating, you'll need something new to read_. _Hope you get better soon_. _Love Janie, Ginny, and Harry_.

Upon closer inspection, Janie noticed that they were all of the books that she had helped pick out, when Harry and Ron had taken her out, with the exception of a few books added by Ginny. Taking out one of her own books, Janie sat down in one of the chairs next to her bed and started reading, until her grandmother sat a few chairs away from her.

While reading, Janie kept stealing glances at her, and at about the fourth one, the older woman glanced at Janie, but didn't look away.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi," Janie replied.

Eileen extended a hand with a smile, "I'm Eileen."

"I'm Janie," Janie replied. "Nice to meet you."

"What are you reading?" The older witch inquired.

"It's a muggle book, _How to Kill a Mockingbird_," Janie answered.

"Fabulous book," Eileen replied. "Do you like it?"

Janie nodded, "It's really good."

Eileen was quiet for a few minutes to watch Janie read and then looked at her son, before observing Janie once more.

"You know, you look an awfully a lot like my son," Eileen said.

Janie looked up and asked innocently, "Really? Who's your son?"

Eileen pointed at Severus, "You really do look like him…an _aw_ful like him-"

"Janie!" Professor McGonagall said, stopping next to the two. "The bell's going to ring shortly, why don't you get yourself going; you don't want to be late for class now, do you?"

"No, Professor," she said, gathering her belongings. "It was very nice meeting you, Eileen," Janie said politely and left, with McGonagall following her.

A few minutes after the two had left, Madam Pomfrey came out and placed Severus and Hermione's updated charts back on the ends of their beds and then retreated back to her office and shut the door. Curiosity getting the better of her, Eileen got up and checked her son's chart, only to find out that nothing had really changed – just that his energy level had increased. With a glance back towards Madam Pomfrey, who was now speaking to someone via floo, Eileen crept over towards Hermione's bed and quickly looked at her chart, her eyebrows shooting up past her bangs, when she heard the rustling of bed sheets. Looking up, she noticed that it seemed like Hermione had started to wake up and left to warn Madam Pomfrey.

---

"Albus," Poppy greeted, nearly two hours later.

"How are they doing?" He asked.

Madam Pomfrey sighed, "Hermione woke up around two hours ago. By the time I had managed to curtain off Severus' bed from her view, she was wide awake and refused to take any sleeping drafts."

"How did she take the news?" Dumbledore asked, concern shimmering in his eyes.

The Mediwitch let out a small growl of exasperation.

"As you can assume, as soon as she woke up and found out that the baby was safe-"

"The baby?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes twinkling. "They're expecting?"

Madam Pomfrey nodded, "Sometime in November; I can't believe you didn't know, Albus. But anyways, as soon as I told her that the baby was perfectly fine, the next word out of her mind was 'Severus.' It took me fifteen minutes to explain to her Severus' state; after the panicking, worrying, and crying, I finally got some words in. And it made it even worse when I told her that she couldn't see him yet; I had to call Mr. Potter and _then_ Mrs. Potter, who left work and Harry, who _just_ went back to work today, before she finally calmed down; Mr. Weasley was unreachable at the moment. Amazingly, she had calmed down rather quickly, especially after Mrs. Potter kicked her husband out of the room, and talked to Hermione privately."

"Does Janie know?" Dumbledore asked.

"She hasn't been down here since her break; I think Minerva kept her occupied during lunch. I'm not expecting her down here for at least a few more hours; maybe then her mother will be a little more occupied."

Dumbledore surveyed his younger friend, "Now Poppy, don't you think you're being a little too critical? Try putting yourself in her position; she didn't wish for any of this to happen."

Madam Pomfrey looked back towards Hermione's curtained-off area and sighed, "You're right, Albus. It's just that she seems like a never-ending water fountain at times."

Dumbledore chuckled, "Just imagine what poor Severus is going to go through when he wakes up; that poor boy is going to look nearly completely lost. Now, if you please excuse me, I need to go and speak to the subject of our conversation."

---

"Professor," Hermione greeted, as soon as Dumbledore walked in.

He smiled, "Harry, Ginny; could you two please excuse us, while I speak to Hermione for a few moments?"

"Sure, Professor," Ginny said, stood up, and followed Harry out of the room.

"So, Ms. Granger, how are you feeling?" Dumbledore asked.

"As well as I can be at the time," Hermione replied. "You?"

"Fine; thank you for asking. May I please take a seat?" He asked, motioning towards the foot of her bed.

Hermione nodded, "Sure, Professor."

"I know it may be a bit soon, but I think we need to talk about what happened on Saturday," he said.

Hermione nodded.

"What is the last thing that you remember?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

"Being hit by Lucius' spell. I remember some voices after that, but I'm not too sure when they were or even _who_ they were."

Dumbledore seemed to digest the information for a moment, before continuing on, "How much do you know of what happened?"

Hermione paused for a moment before speaking, "I know that Severus is still unconscious and the condition he's in – Madam Pomfrey had talked to me about it. Harry told me that Draco's in the Hospital Wing and that Zeek is in Azkaban, charged with kidnapping and three counts of assault on a minor. They really didn't tell me anymore; it seemed like there was something else that they were neglecting to tell me."

"Indeed they were," Dumbledore replied. "After I fill you in on the missing details, please don't be angry with your friends for not telling you, they were asked not to say anything."

Hermione nodded, "Alright."

"First, I bet you're wondering why Severus even went in the first place," Dumbledore said, handing Hermione the letter from Lucius, which claimed that he had Janie.

"Zeek had been sent to capture Janie, but he ran into a problem: she was with her three friends. Mr. Malfoy had tried to stun Janie, but her pendant blocked her from the attack, forcing him to attack her and her friends as well. After he had managed to knock Janie unconscious, with a spell or his own creation, he erased the events from both Mr. and Miss Carter's minds, and stunned Mr. Narls, who was found half way up to the castle.

"By the time that you and Draco had arrived, it was still unbeknownst to Severus _and_ Lucius that Janie was now safe; had you two not intervened, who knows what would have happened. From Zeek and what Mr. Malfoy have said, Lucius not only wanted to take Janie away from Severus forever, but you as well – there's no easy way in saying this, Hermione, but Lucius tried to murder you, had Severus not gotten to him first."

Hermione looked at him with sad, shimmering eyes, "What do you exactly mean, 'gotten to him first?'"

Dumbledore looked at her sadly, "Lucius Malfoy is dead, Hermione."

Hermione gasped, "Severus…"

"Preformed the Killing Curse," he finished for her.

"No," Hermione said quietly, shaking her head, the tears threatening to fall.

"Hermione," Dumbledore started, gently grabbing her hand. "What he did was in defense – a literal life-or-death situation. I've taken his wand and altered the spells preformed, so if he becomes under suspicion, they won't find any proof with it. I'm not going to let him be sent to Azkaban, Hermione; he's the closest thing to a son that I've ever had and both you and Janie need him. For now, Lucius' wand had backfired; it's not unheard of and entirely believable, especially when performing the Killing Curse."

Hermione nodded solemnly.

"And don't worry, Hermione; as long as I'm here, you won't have to worry about a thing. Now, on to a little lighter news," he announced.

Hermione looked up at him with a questioning expression.

"You should know that it," Dumbledore paused to look pointedly at her stomach, "has been accidentally slipped to Janie." Dumbledore smiled brightly, "Congratulations!"

Hermione looked up at him shyly, "Thank you."

"Do you know the sex of the child yet?" He asked.

Hermione shook her head, "It's still a bit too early…"

Dumbledore patted her leg in a friendly way, "Magic has come a long way, my dear. If you really wanted to, I'm sure that with the proper spell, you can."

"That is very kind of you, Professor, but I'd rather wait for Severus," Hermione replied.

Dumbledore smiled, "I understand completely."

"It's going to be quite a shock to him," Hermione said. "Everything will be."

The older wizard smiled, "Indeed it is. Oh, and Hermione? I thought I'd let you know that Severus' mother is here and I'm pretty sure that she's already read _both_ of your charts," he informed her.

While still in the Bahamas, Severus had told Hermione about his mother and his negligence to inform her of everything that happened, under the presumption that she had passed away on her travels. Hermione, of course, did not approve of his reason at all, telling him, "How could you; she's your _mother_!" He had replied with, "Everybody makes mistakes; it's not like I really had heard from her either," which earned him an entire two days worth of side comments about mothers.

"Now, she has already guessed that you were the girl in the letter that Severus wrote to her and she's always asking me or Minerva how you are doing. Now, I believe that once Eileen has retreated for the night, we can open the curtains," he said, motioning towards the curtains blocking off Severus from her view.

"And Janie has been very worried about her parents," Dumbledore twinkled. "She has been able to make it down here in all of her free time. I also believe that she will be down here at any moment – ah; she's walking in right now. Do you feel up to seeing her?"

"Of course," Hermione replied. "She's my daughter; I'm always up to seeing her."

"Wonderful," the Headmaster replied. "Janie will be delighted to find that you're awake," he said, and left to meet Janie down the main isle.

"Good afternoon, Janie," he greeted, making Janie look up.

"Good afternoon, Professor," she replied kindly.

"How were your classes?" He asked.

"They were good – it was rather weird in Potions though; Professor Littlegrin wasn't sure what potion to do with us, so he made us write him a paper," Janie replied and then her look turned serious. "How are they, Professor?"

Dumbledore smiled, "You'll see."

Janie raised an eyebrow at the Professor as he walked out of the Hospital Wing.

Carefully walking towards her mother's enclosed area, she opened the curtain and was faced with a smiling Hermione.

"Mum!" Janie exclaimed, running up to her mother and hugging her.

---

Hermione and Janie had talked until Madam Pomfrey ushered Janie out at dinner time, a few hours later. Shortly after Janie had left, Eileen had also taken her leave and Madam Pomfrey had entered Hermione's room.

"Can I see him now?" Hermione asked almost immediately.

"No," Madam Pomfrey stated.

"What!? Wh-"

"Misters Potter and Weasley are here and wish to eat dinner with you; I believe they've even brought their own food too," she informed Hermione. "Now, get yourself together for them; I'm going to send them in here in a few minutes."

"Hey Hermione! It's so good to see you're up!" Ron said, as they walked into her makeshift room, his arms full with bags of food.

"We've come to take your mind off of everything," Harry said.

"Sorry I couldn't make it earlier, I had – bloody hell, Hermione! Look at all of your gifts!" Ron exclaimed, as Harry took one of Hermione's flowers and held it up.

"You don't mind, do you?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head and waved her hand dismissively at him, "Go ahead."

"And if she did, we'd buy her a dozen more, right Harry?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded. "We'd buy you bushels," he said and transfigured the flower into a table.

Ron set the food on top of the table and pushed it over towards Hermione, so that she could still sit up in bed, while Harry dragged over two chairs.

"I hope you're hungry, Hermione," Harry said. "We got this food at that new place in Diagon Alley – TMFM's."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "TMFM's?"

"Thank Merlin for Magic," Harry replied.

"Hermione, it's so cool in there!" Ron replied, opening one of the bags and peeking into it. "When you and Snape get better, we're taking you guys out for dinner. It's awesome inside – there are two levels and each section has its own theme, and there's a huge dance floor there too!"

"Ron's all excited, because they had a Quidditch section and one of the walls was all decked out in the Chudley Cannons," Harry explained, as he took the food out of one of the bags and set it down on the table.

Much to Hermione's disappointment, Harry and Ron stayed until Madam Pomfrey kicked them out, after coming in and discovering that they were still there (apparently, they were supposed to leave hours before she found them). It wasn't that Hermione didn't love them, but she wanted to see Severus, which, Madam Pomfrey told her it was too late for and that she needed her rest.

It had taken Hermione a while to fall asleep, without the help from her Dreamless Sleep Potion (which she refused to take). Then, a few hours later, she was awoken by someone shaking her shoulders.

"Hermione," the voice said softly. "Hermione," it repeated, when she didn't move.

"Hermione," the voice said a tad bit louder. "Wake up," the person said, as they started to gently shake her shoulders.

"Hmm?" She asked, turning over, her eyes still closed.

"Wake up, Hermione."

This time, Hermione clearly heard the voice and her eyes snapped open.

"Severus!" She exclaimed quietly, throwing her arms around him. "Oh my God; you're alright!"

**A/N: Thanks again to all of those who have read and reviewed this far; it really is appreciated! I will really try to update sooner than I have been doing in the passed, it's just that now I have to finish half of my summer homework before DH comes out (I have to read _Emma_ by Jane Austen and _1984_ by George Orwell - is _Emma _a good book (I've heard a lot of mixed reviews)? But I still should be able to get some writing done...no need to fear. Also, on the website, I added a chat box type of thing on the front page, in case anybody has any questions or wants to say anything or know how the chapter's coming along, ect.**


	28. Home PII

**I am happy to say that this story has been nominated for the WIP (Work in Progress) category on the Quill to Parchment Awards! I'd like to thank everybody who has really helped this story out along the way; it really does mean more than words can say!**

**So, here's the next chapter! And I'm happy to say that it's out a lot faster than the last several ones have been. It would have been out sooner, but I kind of had to finish all of my summer homework (the books were good!) - and the new Harry Potter book came first. And, being the procrastinator I am (I know; it's a horrible habbit), I decided to wait until the week of school to really finish everything (but I did keep writing...it's a lot better than homework!).**

---

"_Severus_!_" She exclaimed quietly, throwing her arms around him. "Oh my God_;_ you're alright_!_" _

_---_

Severus hugged her back, albeit it was weakly.

"I was so worried about you!" She said, squeezing him tighter. "And Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let me see you, so I had no idea how you actually were. I'm so glad that you're alright!"

Severus gently pushed her arms down for a moment, "Hermione, how are you?"

She looked up to him, "Fine; thank you for saving my life."

He met her gaze with concerned eyes, "How's the baby?"

Hermione noticed that as time went on, Severus seemed to slouch a little more. "Fine; Madam Pomfrey said that it's in perfect health," Hermione said and Severus looked relieved.

"Dumbledore knows," she said, making Severus narrow his eyes. "And so does Janie; I didn't tell them – I guess Madam Pomfrey did."

Severus muttered something about the matron that almost made Hermione snort.

"And Ginny knows too."

Severus immediately opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione was quicker.

"But don't worry; Harry and Ron are still completely clueless," she assured. "When I was…a mess…Ginny had read my chart and then kicked Harry and Ron out of the room and talked some sense into me…she swore not to tell them though," she trailed off.

"So you're really alright?" He asked, leaning over to grab onto Hermione's side table.

Hermione eyed him critically. "You're not alright," she said softly. "Severus, sit down on the bed," she said, tugging his arm over to her bed. "Why didn't you tell me or take a seat? You're completely exhausted!" Hermione exclaimed quietly, and then her gaze softened as he sat down on the bed. "Better now?"

He nodded, eager to shift her attention off of him, "You were saying before?"

"Dumbledore seemed happy about the news," Hermione said.

"Isn't he always?" Severus asked, like his mind was somewhere else.

"When you're better, Severus, if you want, we can find out the gender of the baby. Dumbledore wanted to do it earlier, but I said that you had to be there. Besides, I think it would have been just weird if Dumbledore was there; he doesn't need to be there and to tell you the truth, I really don't want him here if we do find out."

"Neither do I," Severus agreed, immediately snapping his attention back to Hermione. "That sounds good to me though," he stopped when they heard a noise.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked, once she was sure that no one was coming.

He looked up, "Nothing."

Hermione gave him a reprimanding look, "Something's on your mind."

Severus turned to Hermione with an almost haunted look in his eyes, which almost made her gasp, "Hermione, I did something in order to ensure your's and the baby's safety…Lucius Malfoy…Hermione, I killed a-"

Severus stopped when Hermione put her finger over his lips, "Ssshhh; I know."

He looked taken back, "How?"

She kissed him, "I know what you had to do and I know that to kill a person is terrible, but you did what had to be done. Severus, if you hadn't done what you did, then I might not be here right now."

"I could have-"

"No, Severus; listen to me – don't think like that. They would have probably just sent Lucius back to prison, and he would have just broken out again. We're here and that's all that matters. Alright?" Hermione said, releasing her hold on him.

"Alright," he said and tried to get up, but it was too difficult.

Hermione's hand extended out and gently clasped the sleeve of his black shirt, "You can stay, Severus. You can hardly get up by yourself; I don't want you hurting yourself anymore. Please just stay; I've missed you terribly today…It's almost felt like forever since I've last seen you."

Severus looked at Hermione and then scanned their surroundings.

"Alright," he said, before moving to lie down next to her and wrap an arm around her.

---

"Good morning, Poppy," Professor Dumbledore greeted.

"What brings you here this morning? Is everything alright?"

"Good morning, Albus," the Hogwarts' matron replied. "I'll bet you'll be pleased to know that Severus has awakened."

"Really? I'll be right down," Dumbledore said and moments later, he was walking out of the fireplace in Madam Pomfrey's office.

The Mediwitch lead Dumbledore out into the wing, before stopping outside of Hermione's curtained-off area.

"Have you decided to open the dividing curtains?" The Headmaster asked.

"Not exactly," Madam Pomfrey replied, opening the curtains just enough so that he could get through.

Dumbledore smiled when he saw the two peacefully sleeping and turned to Madam Pomfrey, "Don't worry, Poppy; I'll wake them up."

The witch nodded and turned to retreat back to her office, while Dumbledore closed the curtains and cast a silencing charm around the room; even _he_ didn't know what kind of mood Severus would be in when he was awakened.

"Good morning," Dumbledore exclaimed cheerfully, throwing back the shared curtains to the room's longest window. "Rise and shine!"

Hermione groaned something unintelligently and turned away from Dumbledore's view.

"Severus…Hermione…" He called, like a parent trying to wake up his children. "Wake up you two," he said, drawing back the curtains right above their bed.

As soon as the voice registered as Dumbledore's in Hermione's head, she flew upwards into a sitting position.

"Ah, good morning, Hermione! Had a good night's sleep, I presume? Severus, it's time to wake up," Dumbledore said, rounding the corner of their bed.

"Severus," Hermione said, tugging at his shirt, her face pink. "Wake up."

Severus opened his eyes, only to immediately be met with the sight of Dumbledore looking down at him.

"_Dumbledore_," Snape hissed, springing upwards. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Glad to see that you're awake, Severus," Dumbledore said. "We've all been very worried about you. You've had Hermione in ruffles, Janie's been glued to your side, and your mother-"

"My _mother's_ here?" He cut him off.

"Oh yes," Dumbledore replied, like it wasn't a big deal. "She's been here since Sunday and has been staying with Minerva; I'm sure they've exchanged some really interesting stories about you so far. In fact, I've heard a few myself."

"But why is she still here? Why didn't you send her _home_?" He asked.

"Because she's been extremely worried about you and has been asked if she wanted to stay, instead of leaving," Dumbledore said.

"What's today?" Severus asked a little hesitantly.

"Tuesday," Dumbledore replied. "Not to worry; I have Professor Littlegrin covering your classes, Severus."

He groaned; it was going to be a _long_ morning.

---

"Good morning, Minerva," Eileen greeted, when the Professor sat down.

"Good morning, Eileen. Sorry for having to run off in the corridor like that – I forgot to tell my house the new password to get into the Common Room."

"It's quite alright," she replied, waving her hand dismissively. "I can remember anxiously waiting outside the entrance to the Common Room when I was in school."

Their discussion continued on pleasantly, until Janie entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Oh good; she's finally coming to breakfast," McGonagall said, more to herself than anybody else.

"She's a very nice girl," Eileen commented, grabbing McGonagall's attention.

"Am I correct in assuming that she's also very bright?" Severus' mother asked.

"Oh yes; she has surpassed her class in my class, and I'm probably safe in saying the same for the rest of her classes," McGonagall replied.

"Knack for potions," Eileen said.

"That's what I heard," McGonagall replied, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice, when Eileen turned to face her.

"Minerva," she began. "Why didn't you tell me that I have a granddaughter?"

McGonagall nearly spit her drink back, "What?" She asked incredulously.

"Janie is Severus' daughter," Eileen stated. "I might be growing old, but I'm certainly not daft or blind – they're so alike, it's not even funny!"

"We thought that it would be best if Severus had told you himself."

"I don't blame your judgment, Minerva; Severus should have been the one to tell me – he has _a lot_ of explaining to do. When I get my hands on that boy…" Eileen trailed off for a moment. "You know, it really wasn't that hard to figure out, either. They both have black hair and black eyes…she has _amazing_ black eyes; luckily, she doesn't have his nose…And she's intelligent too…" Eileen paused, when Dumbledore approached the table.

"She's getting up already?" McGonagall asked, observing Janie, completely oblivious to the fact that Dumbledore was standing right behind her."

"She's going to be quite shocked when she walks into the Hospital Wing," Dumbledore commented.

Both women whirled around to see Dumbledore standing.

"I'll bet you'll be pleased to hear that Severus has awoken," he announced, before either of the ladies could comment.

"Really?" Eileen asked happily. "How is he?"

"Weak, but alive; I don't think he took too kindly to the idea that I was the first thing he saw this morning."

"How's his mood?" His mother asked seriously.

"Madam Pomfrey, as they say, 'chewed' him out for leaving his bed last night. I expect his mood will be much better after Janie has paid them a visit."

"How did he take the news that I was here?" Eileen asked.

"He took it fairly well, actually. Personally, I don't think he had the energy to really complain," Dumbledore opinioned.

"Well, I'm off to the library," Eileen announce, a little while later. "I'll give them some time to properly reunite, before going in."

---

"What is _that_?" Severus asked, once Hermione opened the curtains to his area.

Hermione looked up, "Oh…my God…"

Apparently, Dumbledore thought it would be a good idea to set up several "Congratulations" balloons that displayed teddy bears and bottles, which were tied to several items that ranged from: teddy bears, stuffed ducks, and even a stuffed hippogriff. Fluttering above the balloons were the glittering words, "Congratulations on your news."

"My mother _cannot_ see this," Severus said, as Hermione helped him over to his bed, because of a threat from Madam Pomfrey.

"Well, where are we supposed to put them?" Hermione asked. "I'm not supposed to leave the Hospital Wing and you can't walk across the room yet."

"Call for your house elf friend," Severus said.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "Or I could just call my _own_ friends."

"Dobby," Severus immediately called, accompanied with a snap of his fingers.

Within the next few moments, Dobby appeared next to the foot of Severus' bed.

"Professor Snape called Dobby, sir?" The house elf asked politely.

"Yes, could you take these-"

"Just the balloons," Hermione interrupted.

Severus raised an eyebrow, "Just the balloons to our room."

Hermione shot him a scathing look.

"Please," he added, receiving a mile from Hermione.

Dobby looked completely taken back, "Yes; sure thing, Professor. Dobby must admit sir, that he has never heard Professor Snape say 'please' before. Do Dobby's ears work?"

Severus glared at the elf and then at Hermione.

"Your ears are working fine, Dobby," Hermione said, as Dobby grabbed the balloons.

"Thank you, Miss Hermione," Dobby said smiling, before disappearing with the floating objects.

"Why didn't you just let him take everything?" Severus asked.

"Because," Hermione started, like it was an obvious answer. "I want to see everything he gave us."

"You can see it just fine now," Severus replied, receiving a disapproving look from Hermione.

"You know that's not what I meant," Hermione said.

"And _what_ are we going to do with the rest of what's left?" He asked.

"I'll hide them in the drawers," Hermione replied simply. "Besides, I _know_ that there's a part of you who wants to see them too."

"Not likely," he replied.

"Are you sure?" Hermione said, trying to lure him in.

"Can't be caught with them now, can I?" Severus asked not seriously.

"Oh yes, I forgot; we have the big, bad Slytherin reputation to uphold."

"Exactly," Severus smirked, making Hermione laugh.

"'Big, bad Slytherin?' I hope you're not talking about Severus," his mother said, walking into the room, wiping the smirk right off of her son's face.

"Hello Hermione," Eileen greeted. "Why Severus, it's so nice to see that you're finally up."

"Moth-"

Eileen cut her son off, "How are you, Severus?" She asked, walking up next to him.

"Fine-"

As soon as Eileen heard that one word answer, she smacked him in the back of the head.

"What was tha-"

"That's for not telling me about that wonderful woman sitting a few feet away from you, and your engagement," Eileen paused to hit Severus again, but he ducked and she missed, making him smirk in achievement.

"Severus!" Hermione called.

"Oh no; I'm not that stupid, Hermione," he said. "Nice try though."

"Sever-"

"What Hermione? I'll answer your question, but I'm not going to look at you."

Hermione humphed.

"Fine; I guess you don't want to know what _it_ just did," she said dismissively.

"Wait, what?" He asked, immediately turning his attention to Hermione and received another smack, making Hermione laugh.

"And _that_ one's for not telling me that I have a granddaughter!" Eileen turned to Hermione, "I really like you; I have a feeling that we're going to become great friends." Eileen turned back to see a brief look of befuddlement on her son's face, "Really, Severus; you should know that you can't really feel a baby's movements yet."

After her statement, the room was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

"You know about that _too_?" Severus asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh yes, Severus; you have a _lot_ of explaining to do…by your_self_," his mother replied. "And don't worry, I'm not going to ask you now; you need your rest. But when I do, I'm asking you to please spare the details; I don't need to know _every_thing you do-"

"Mother!" Severus spluttered.

"I'm only kidding Severus; trying to get something personal out of you is like trying to get Dumbledore to stop eating lemon drops."

Severus glared at his mother, while she pulled up a chair in between their two beds, "So Hermione, how are you, dear?"

---

"Hurry up, before she sees you," Hermione said.

"Or hears you!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. "You both better be in bed; don't make me regret giving Severus those strengthening potions!"

"I can always get my own," Severus pointed out. "Have you forgotten what I am, Popp?"

Madam Pomfrey appeared in front of them, pointing a finger at him, "You are sick and in bed; I know _exactly_ what you are right now. Aren't you two close enough already? Never mind; _don't_ answer that.

"Just so you know, Mr. Potter has gotten wind that you are finally up," she said, pointing at Severus again. "I expect that you'll be getting a visit from them soon."

Severus groaned.

As it had turned out, Harry showed up with Ginny, while Ron was busy; Harry thought that this was for the best, seeing as Snape would probably try to murder him with his glare as soon as he walked through the door. Shortly before dinnertime, Madam Pomfrey had politely booted Harry and Ginny from the Hospital Wing, but as luck would have it, Dumbledore came in moments later and decided to eat dinner with them. All throughout their conversations, he had been exceptionally skilled to leave anything relating to the balloons out. When Dumbledore finally left, he closed the main curtains and told Poppy not to bother them with anything trivial thinks and that they needed to talk things over.

After giving them their nightly potions, Madam Pomfrey left and shockingly did not return for the rest of the night; not even to tell them to turn their dimly lit light off.

"At least Dumbledore got her off of our backs for the night," Hermione said, walking towards Severus' bed. "Can I sit down?"

"Yes," Severus said and then raised an eyebrow. "Why did you ask?"

Hermione shrugged, "I didn't know if you were tired or not."

He shook his head.

"You know, Severus, I really was going to tell you," she began after several minutes were spent in silence. "About the baby this weekend."

Severus went to talk, but Hermione quickly added more.

"I don't want you to think that I wasn't going to tell you and try to hide it from you. I had it all planned out – even the conversation that would lead up to me telling you. I didn't mean for what to happen really happen – it's just that so much has been going on lately," Hermione said, finally lifting her gaze from the ground to look Severus in the eye. "I don't want you to think that I didn't want you to know…"

After a few more words were spoken, silence once again enveloped them, when Hermione sat up further on the bed.

"Why did you come to the abandoned factory?" Severus asked quietly.

"Draco flooed me and told me what was going on…and he brought us back Janie. He said that he needed my help, but when I found out where you were, I would have gone anyways. I know that you think I shouldn't have gone and that it was irresponsible of me, but I couldn't not go when I knew what was going on. Draco gave me the invisibility cloak to wear, but I couldn't let Malfoy keep going at you like that."

"When you were hit, I didn't know what to think," Severus started. "After you were down, Lucius pointed his wand at you…and started to say the Killing Curse, so there was only one way that I could stop him from hurting you, Janie, or the baby ever again.

"After Lucius was dealt with, I went over to make sure you were alright, but you weren't moving. When I felt that you had a pulse, I couldn't tell you how relieved I felt and then I had to make sure that the baby was alright," he paused momentarily. "Hermione, I…I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you or you lost the baby…I – I would have been lost."

At his confession, Hermione turned around ad hugged him.

"Hermione, could you do me a favor? If something like this ever happens again, I don't want you to go; I need you to stay here-"

Hermione looked up at him, "And I don't want you to go. You have a family now Severus that needs you; let the Aurors take care of it from now on," Hermione replied. "Please."

Severus looked down at Hermione's pleading eyes, "Alright; I won't go."

Hermione smiled and scooted up to lean up against Severus' chest, and _Accio-ed_ the stuffed animals, "Good."

"It was really nice of Dumbledore to give us these," Hermione commented, picking up the stuffed, yellow duck.

"Knowing Dumbledore, we'll probably be getting more soon," Severus replied. "He loves this kind of stuff."

Hermione laughed, "You know; he'll kind of be like the grandfather…I mean, it'll grow up here, while we're not on breaks or anything…"

"Please, don't tell him that yet; he will never leave us alone," Severus said, as Hermione gave the duck a slight squeeze and it quaked.

"Awww! And it's so soft too! Feel it, Severus," Hermione said, giving him the duck and then picking up the other two.

"And these do it too! Oh! And this one walks!" Hermione said joyfully, letting the walking duck waddle across the bed, while Severus picked up one of the stuffed bears.

"You thought the ducks were soft," he said, holding out the bear. "These are memory foam bears."

Hermione took the extended bear and squeezed it, "You know, we need a bed made out of this stuff."

Severus almost snorted.

"When we're finally out of here, we need to go shopping," Hermione said, picking up the hippogriff and started elbowing Severus when she gently squeezed it. "Oh my God, Severus, look; it flutters its wings!"

After they were done looking through the cuddly creatures that Dumbledore left them, they fell into a comfortable silence, when he was sure that Hermione wasn't far from falling sleep. In fact, he was almost dozing when Hermione spoke.

"I think it's going to be a boy," she said softly.

Severus suddenly felt a little more awaken by her opinion and raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Mm-hm. Every spell we've done so far has ended up resulting in blue; not every spell should have resulted in that color."

"The spell at the factory turned blue," Severus added quietly.

"I really think so; Janie will be so happy if it does come true. It would be nice to have a boy," Hermione said.

At this, both of Severus' eyebrows shot up, "Why is that?"

"Well, I've already had a girl, and I've always wanted a boy too…and for you too."

"Me?"

Hermione nodded.

"It wouldn't matter if it was a girl or a boy-"

"I know, but it would still be nice…and then your name can be carried on…"

"Hermione, I…I don't know what to say…thank you."

Hermione smiled, turned around, and kissed him.

"Besides," she smirked. "You've already made it quite clear that you're not going to talk to Janie about things that are 'my job too,' so, you'll get your turn. And you're not going to give him a book either. "

"But-"

"I think we should start thinking of names," Hermione said softly, changing topics. "With you here it will be a lot easier in some ways."

"Why?" Severus asked.

"Because I wasn't extremely sure in my choices-"

"You made the right choice; you picked Janie-"

"Yes, but I was trying to keep you in mind while picking it…then I thought about naming her after your mother, but I didn't think that you would appreciate it very much. I mean, if Janie was a boy, I was going to name him Jake, but I think it sounded a little funny-"

"Jake Snape?" Severus asked, knowing that she didn't mean Jake Granger, which sounded fine.

Hermione nodded.

Severus wrinkled his nose, "I'm glad that Janie's a girl."

Hermione chuckled.

"If you want to suggest names, fire away; I know you're inching too-"

"But what about you?" Hermione asked.

"I'll listen for now," he replied.

"Well, I've always liked Sebastian…"

"I did too, until my cousin came along…" Severus said. "I haven't spoken to him since we were kids…and to this day, I still believe he's a git."

"Alright then; Sebastian's out of the question," Hermione said. "And I've always liked the name James, but I definitely know that that name is untouchable. Besides, if Harry has any children, I'd bet anything that his first boy's name is going to be James. And then, I really like this one name…" Hermione trailed off.

Severus raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"I know you've heard of it before…"

"Hermione-"

"For a long time I've liked this name…"

"Her-"

"Alright. I really, _really_ like _your_ name-"

"No," he stated.

"It's not like it has to be Severus Snape, Junior-"

"Still no," he said.

"Why not? If I could have and if Janie was a boy, I wanted to name him after you. You have such a unique name, Severus."

"Yes, if you want him to be made fun of while he's at Hogwarts, go right ahead," he replied.

Hermione huffed, "That was a while ago. Besides, who would make fun of him, if they know his father is the _real _Severus Snape?"

"If you name him Severus, we're both not going to know who you're talking to," Severus replied.

"Then I'll call one of you Sev," Hermione said simply.

Severus shook his head.

"Then how about his middle name?" Hermione pushed.

"Please, just leave my name alone for the time being," he said.

Hermione mentally sighed and granted Severus his plea, "How about Caden?"

Severus thought for a moment, before a thought dawned on him, "Do you know what that name means?"

"No; do you?" Hermione asked.

"Spirit of battle…"

"Oh God; we don't need another one of them. Did you know that after the battle, Harry looked up his name and it means something like 'army man?' Yes, we certainly don't need another one of those; I'll be content with the rest of my life as long as we don't have another crazed, power-hungry lunatic trying to promote his cause."

"All from a _name_?" Severus asked.

Hermione made a waving motion with her hand, "You know what I mean. Anyways, how about Sam?"

"For a boy?"

Hermione nodded.

Severus shook his head again.

"Why not?"

"Because knowing you, you'll end up calling him 'Sammy,' and that sounds like a dog's name."

"No I won't," Hermione defended.

"Then your friends will. I like Samantha for a girl's name," Severus said.

"Ooo; I like that name," Hermione said. "A lot. What about Adrian?" She asked.

"Or Trenton," Severus said.

Hermione looked up at him, "I _really_ like that name, Severus."

Severus smirked, "So do I."

They talked about names for a little while longer, except this time, girl names were traded until Hermione could hardly keep her eyes open. The next few days were spent in the same fashion: visitors would come and go during the day, and at night, Madam Pomfrey had stayed off of their backs and let them talk.

Luckily, Madam Pomfrey had not overheard their conversation, because if she had, she would have had some of her own things to say, especially when Hermione told Severus that she wanted to do everything through St. Mungo's with the baby. One of her main reasons for this was that the entire staff of Hogwarts (minus Professor Sinstra), would be constantly in and out of the Hospital Wing to see the baby, especially Dumbledore and McGonagall. This way, if they went through St. Mungo's, most of the staff would wait until they came back to Hogwarts, there would be no peeking students, and Dumbledore and McGonagall couldn't stay all day…or Severus' mother for that matter.

By Friday, Madam Pomfrey had finally released Severus and Hermione from the Hospital Wing, but wouldn't let them return to classes until Tuesday. Using their extra day off and against Madam Pomfrey's concerns about going out too soon, they visited St. Mungo's for the first official checkup. From the time they entered the assigned room, until they left, Severus had been rendered nearly speechless, making Hermione believe at times that he was hit over the head. When the medical worker had left their room, Hermione turned towards Severus, who was still goggling at the screen, and gently grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

Severus turned to her.

"See Severus, you're going to be a father," Hermione said, raising their hands to gesture towards the screen.

"But I'm already one," Severus said, half mindedly.

"I know; and you're a great one too. Now you'll be one from the beginning," she said.

"Is it easy?" Severus asked a few minutes later.

"At times it can be, but it's so rewarding. I'm not going to worry you with anything now; you'll be an inside mess when the baby finally does come. Although, Harry and Ron didn't think it was easy."

Severus furrowed his brow, "Please don't mention them now."

"Are you sure? Because I think you'll like that I had them watch Janie for a few hours – don't give me that look, Severus. I had them watch Janie and they tried changing her diaper; let's just say that I forgot to tell them the spell and they tried doing it the muggle way. When I came home, they had her in the bath tub, using their wands to race her rubber duckies, not knowing what else to do. I know it's not nice, but I taught H – _them_ to change a baby's diaper the muggle way and neglected to inform them that there was a spell, even when they asked; but it was funny!"

A silence fell over the two, while Severus stared back at the screen for several more moments, before turning back to Hermione.

"You're amazing; you know that, right?"

Hermione blushed, her eyes fluttering down to her hands.

After the appointment (they had decided to find out the baby's gender at a future appointment) and Hermione had been cleared and sent on her way, they had gone out for the day and decided that that weekend, they would go to Hermione's parents' house and tell them of their news.

With the news of the baby and the engagement, Severus' mother opted to stay longer, and was completely backed up by Professor Dumbledore, who even gave her temporary quarters, when Severus made it quite clear that she could only stay for a few days in their guest room. Although her guest rooms were several floors away, it didn't keep her from frequently visiting Severus and Hermione to talk, to get to know Janie and Hermione better, or Severus' _favorite_: the insistent badgering of what could be changed in their quarters for the new baby. At one point on Friday, Severus was so tired of his mother tailing him around like a lost puppy through his quarters and pointing out different objects that needed to be changed, he had exploded, making Hermione and Janie's eyes grow wide.

"The baby won't be here for almost seven months! It's April and Hermione's due in _November_. If anything, you should be worrying about the_ wedding_;that's in_ June_ – I'm pretty sure that you can do the math. And Hermione's already had a child, so I'm pretty sure that she already know what to do," Severus exclaimed and then turned his back on his shocked mother and went back out to where Hermione and Janie were currently sitting.

"What?" He asked when he saw the looks on both of there faces. "I had to say _some_thing."

Hermione and Janie looked at each other and started laughing, and when they heard Severus' mother exclaim something from the other room, they started to laugh harder.

"My God, Severus; _what _in the name of Merlin crawled up your ass?"

Needless to say, Severus was extremely grateful on Saturday, because he had an excuse to leave the castle, even if it meant going to Hermione's parents' house. While Severus and Hermione were gone, Eileen had taken the extra time as a chance to get to know her granddaughter better, which included "sneaking" her out to dinner on Saturday night.

The visit with Mr. and Mrs. Granger, in Hermione's opinion, went extremely well. Nancy Granger was absolutely thrilled to hear of the news, while John Granger was a little skeptical at first, but it had passed shortly. They had even surprised the two when they announced that they were going to take Severus and Hermione out for dinner. And then Hermione's mother surprised them even more when she said that she would like to meet Severus' mother, especially after they had been regularly corresponding throughout the passed few days. In the end, they decided that they should start out by going out for breakfast one morning, and then going from there, which pleased Hermione's mother.

---

A few days later, Harry Potter was helping his wife look for something at their home.

"It should be right there," Ginny said. "Right on top of my desk."

"What is it exactly that I'm looking for?" Harry asked.

"My healer's journal," Ginny replied, over the many various papers that swamped her. "And Harry, I said the _top_, which _means _the top. It doesn't mean that you can go digging through my drawers or through my papers and boxes."

Harry smiled and rolled his eyes, and walked over to the desk.

"Ginny, I don't see it," he said, shifting some papers on the top.

"It's there; keep looking," she said, without looking up.

"Ginny, when is the last time that you had it?" He asked, moving a pile of papers out of the way.

"I don't know; a few days ago?"

Harry sighed, when his hand accidentally knocked over one of her boxes, revealing the notebook, along with a bag, which caught his attention.

"Did you find it yet?" Ginny asked.

"Umm…still looking," Harry said, and with a glance over his shoulder, her quietly opened the bag and pulled the object inside of it out; if his jaw hadn't been attached, it would have fallen off onto the floor.

_What…what is _this? _She can't be…she wouldn't hide something like this from me_…Harry thought, examining the cute baby outfit that he had just pulled out of the bag.

"Ginny," Harry began slowly.

"Hm?" She asked.

"What is this?" He asked, holding up the clothing in front of him, for her to see.

Ginny shot a quick glance over her shoulder, "Oh; that's for Hermi-" Her eyes shot open when she realized what she had just accidentally let slip and quickly closed her mouth.

"Hermione?" Harry asked. "They're having another kid?"

**A/N: For those of you who have finished _Deathly Hallows_, I have a like a chat box kind of thing on my website and you're free to discuss the book on there if you want too. I also have more information for the Quill to Parchment Awards on the website. For the next chapter, I'll have Harry's reaction, as well as when he meets with Hermione. After the news spreads, I think I might skip to late May, or something like that. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed; it's really appreciated!**


	29. How the Past Comes Back to Haunt Us

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does, and I'm also not making any money off of this, either.**

**Sorry that this chapter has taken so long to get out...school's been busy and marching band season had taken up most of my free time, but it's over now, so I should have a lot more time to write. Do not to keep anyone waiting longer...here's the next chapter...**

* * *

_"What is this?" He asked, holding up the clothing in front of him, for her to see._

_Ginny shot a quick glance over her shoulder, "Oh; that's for Hermi-" Her eyes shot open when she realized what she had just accidentally let slip and quickly closed her mouth._

_"Hermione?" Harry asked. "They're having another kid?"_

"Harry," Ginny began seriously. "You can't tell _anybody_ about this; not even Ron."

Harry looked at her, "Then how do you know?"

"It's not important how I know," Ginny said, making Harry narrow his eyes at her. "Alright. I read her chart," Ginny murmured quickly, hoping that he wouldn't catch what she said.

Harry's eyes grew wide, "You didn't…"

Ginny nodded solemnly.

"And Madam Pomfrey blames _us_ for everything!" He exclaimed, and then paused for a moment. "Is that why you kicked Ron and I out of the room?"

Ginny nodded again.

"Was she mad that you knew?"

"Not really. She was glad that I talked some sense into her. She was relieved a little too; now she doesn't have an extra person to tell and she can talk to me," Ginny said.

Harry seemed to consume the information for a minute and then asked, "How long?"

"I believe a little over two months now," she replied, as Harry walked over to their fireplace.

"Harry, where are you going?" Ginny asked.

"To congratulate them," he said.

Ginny jumped off of her seat and launched herself at Harry, managing to get a good hold on his arm.

Harry raised his eyebrow, "Is there a problem?"

"Please Harry; you can't go yet."

"Why?"

"Well, for one, _you're_ not supposed to know yet and two, you need to let them get used to the idea a little bit more, before you go off and tell them that you know. Hermione and Snape haven't told anybody yet for a reason. Only a handful of people know and it wasn't really done on purpose."

Harry nodded, "How long are we talking."

Ginny glared at him and the sloppy smile that he had on his face. "The longer, the better. Hermione's going to kill me for telling you," she said, when a though dawned on her. "This is _you_ we're talking about," she groaned. "You can't keep a secret like this; you'll start slipping comments to Hermione or accidentally blurt it out to Ron."

Harry crossed his arms. "I didn't slip the true identity of Janie's father," he defended.

Ginny pointed an accusatory finger at his chest, and then paused, not knowing what else to say.

"That's because it was for Janie and you know if Ron found out without Hermione telling him first, it would have been terrible," she said finally. "And besides, this is extremely happy news – you and Ron will be giddy idiots around her for the first time."

"I wouldn't exactly use the term 'giddy' and 'idiot.' I would go for something more like 'enthusiastic' and maybe 'overjoyed friend.'"

Ginny put her hands on her hips and glared at him, "Whatever you do, do _not_ tell Hermione, Harry. I don't know what goes on in that head of yours, but please don't let anything slip yet."

Harry smiled again, "Alright, I promise. I won't tell anybody anytime soon."

Little did Ginny know, Harry's definition of soon, usually meant anywhere within the next week or so.

---

That following Saturday saw Severus and Hermione walking to a muggle restaurant for breakfast.

"I don't see why I had to come," Severus said. "You three are going to be too busy talking."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Because your mother and my parents are meeting for the first time and I am not going in alone."

After a few more words were exchanged, they walked in to find Eileen already animatedly talking to Mrs. Granger.

"See, they seem fine all by themselves," Severus said, while Hermione ignored him.

The breakfast actually ran quite smoothly, except for the fact that Severus didn't enjoy all of the questions that he was being asked or what they wanted him to agree on. As the breakfast went on, Hermione only seemed to get happier, and Severus thought that at least he would be attentive and answer all of the questions for her, because he enjoyed seeing her happy. However, the happiness slipped down a degree, when Eileen announced that Mr. and Mrs. Granger were allowed to visit Hogwarts to help plan the wedding. The look on Hermione's face told that she wasn't all too pleased with the idea either. It had turned out that Severus' mother had talked to Dumbledore i9n private about letting Hermione's parents in, and because it was wedding related, he happily obliged. In fact, he even wanted to meet them and arranged for them to come and visit the following weekend.

After they had retuned to Hogwarts, the rest of the week seemed to fly by quickly (too quickly for some people) and it was already time to pick up Hermione's parents from the train station in Hogsmeade. Needless to say that Hermione's parents were enchanted with the castle, especially after Dumbledore had taken it upon himself to be the tour guide. After he gave himself the title, he was happy to explain everything about the castle and answer all of their questions, all while coincidentally stopping where Janie currently was (who was thrilled to see all of her grandparents in the same room).

Mrs. and Mr. granger ended up staying all weekend, making sure to schedule another visit the for the following weekend, to get more planning done. However, this time, they would be arriving by side apparition, which was suggested by Dumbledore. When the time came, Dumbledore had sent Severus and Remus to retrieve Hermione's parents, using the excuse that he didn't want Hermione to "over-exert" herself. At one point during the next meeting, Severus thought that he would have died from boredom, if he had been shown any more flower designs.

Surprisingly, the next few weeks passed by quickly; the students were trying to cram for their exams, while their professors were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to get everything reviewed. Due to the hectic days around the castle, Mrs. Granger decided to stay away from the castle for a little while, so that Hermione and Severus would be free to get everything done (although it didn't stop Eileen and her from writing to each other). On top of all the craziness that was going around, someone had ended up cluing in Mrs. Weasley that Severus' mother and Hermione's mother were currently busy planning their wedding, which immediately prompted a floo call from her.

Finally, the week of finals came, which to the professors, was a huge relief; there was no more running around like lunatics, no more last minute reviewing, and no more planning to be done…for anything. All that was left, was to wait and grade the exams; most professors just charmed their quills to grade the multiple choice exams. However, there were a select few who decided to give almost complete fill in the blank tests.

On the other hand, it was completely different for students…

"Oh my gosh! Oh no, no, no, no, no!" Lyss exclaimed in the corridor, while hitting herself on the head with her palm.

Janie and Matt paused in the hallway and turned their upper bodies to look at their friend.

"What?" Matt asked.

"I forgot to go over poisons and anecdotes for the Potions Final!" She said. "Hey Janie, you didn't happen to get a peek at the final, did you?"

"No," Janie said, narrowing her eyebrows. "Why?"

"Well, I thought that because Professor Snape is your father…"

"That he'd show me the test early?"

"Yeah!" Lyss said, happy that her friend understood her. "Did he?"

"No; why would he? I'm a student and just like everybody else, I earn my grades."

"Did he at least tell you what's going to be _on_ the final?" Lyss pushed.

"Why would he?" Janie asked, getting a little defensive. "Just because my dad is also my Professor, doesn't mean that I get any special treatment. I still call him 'Professor' and do all of my homework. My _mum_ was one who started me off on Potions," Janie paused and sighed. "My dad's my dad; you know how he can be like."

"Did you try to get them?" Matt asked.

"No; I just like looking at his lessons plans," Janie said. "It's nice getting my homework done early."

"Does he get mad that you look through his lesson plans?" Matt asked.

"Not anymore; he did at first. When he found out that I was reading through them, he tried hiding them on me a few times, but when I couldn't find them, I had my mum find them."

"Do you read your mum's plans?" He asked, as the trio walked down the stairs, into the dungeons.

"Not anymore; she said that it was nice to get my homework done early, but it was unhealthy to do it all of the time. She also said to take her word for it; that she knew what she was talking about-"

"Janie!" A voice called from behind them.

"Hey Scott!" She greeted, when she turned around and saw him running up to them. "Did you study?"

"For the Potions Final?" He asked. "That's why I'm late coming down here. I know I don't have to ask you, though; you seem to remember everything."

"Are you ready for it?" Matt asked.

"No!" Scott said. "I completely forgot about all of the Boil Cure potions. Janie, you don't suppose…"

"Don't even ask her," Lyss said. "I've already tried."

Scott wrinkled his nose up at Lyss, before turning towards Janie, "Do you remember anything about the different types of Boil Cure potions?" He asked hopefully.

Janie nodded and for the remainder of the short walk to the Potions Classroom, told him everything that she could.

"Why didn't you tell me what you knew about poisons?" Lyss asked, as they entered the Potions Classroom, making the soul inhabitant of the room glance up form his desk.

"You never asked," Janie replied simply. "And, you never gave me the chance."

"I would have, if Scott didn't interrupt us," Lyss said, shooting Scott an angry look.

"It's not my fault that you forgot to study," he defended.

"You didn't either-"

"I said I 'forgot' the subject; I never said that I didn't go over it for the exam," Scott pointed out.

Lyss crossed her arms with a humph.

"Do you want to know an anecdote?" Janie asked, once silence enveloped the small group, save for a quill scratching on a parchment from the front of the room.

"Please," Lyss said desperately.

"Bezoars will cure most poisons and come from a goat's stomach," Janie stated.

Lyss looked disgusted for a quick moment, before looking grateful, "Thanks…but is there anything else that you can tell me?"

"Yes, but there's not enough time. Besides, the written exam is only 150 questions," Janie said.

"That's not very reassuring," Matt said. "And I studied my brains out."

"Which is a shocker," Lyss muttered, as the rest of the students started to fill into the classroom.

---

An hour after lunch, Hermione received a small package, which luckily, arrived on a period that she had off. She had decided to get some grading out of the way, when the familiar, snowy white owl started to rap at her office window.

"Hedwig," Hermione said, jumping up from her seat to let the owl in, who flew in and landed on her desk.

"What do you have there?" She asked, as Hedwig dropped the parcel into her hand and then quickly flew out of the window.

_She's never done that before_, Hermione commented to herself and carefully ripped the wrapping away from the small box and then opened it, to find a short letter.

_Hermione,_

_I've heard that you'll have a use for this soon._

_Love,_

_Harry_

Brimming with curiosity, Hermione continued to peal away the paper on the inside on the inside of the box to find an article of clothing. When she picked it up and unfolded it, her eyes grew wide: it was a dark blue baby outfit that had snitches zooming around all over it. After she had examined it, she saw that there was another piece with writing on it at the bottom of the box.

_Congratulations_! _I am really happy for the both of you. If you don't mind, I'm going to stop over after exams to properly congratulate you and Professor Snape_.

_-Harry_

Ginny," Hermione growled and then looked back out the window.

_If you don't mind – he's not even expecting a reply back from me. Typical Harry_, Hermione thought.

Although she did admit that the outfit was adorable, Hermione was still frustrated that Harry knew.

---

Hermione snuck into Severus' office, to find him at his desk grading exams. Quietly walking, she stopped right behind him and smiled, because he was so into his work, he had no idea that she was standing right behind him. Looking over her shoulder, she had seen that he was grading the first years' essay portion of the exam, and waited until he had finished and went to grab a new one to let him know that she was there.

Holding her breath, she learned down and wrapped her arms around him, making him jump.

"Did I scare you?" She whispered into his ear.

"No," he replied softly. "Never."

Hermione smirked, "What are you doing?" She asked, and then started to massage his shoulders."

"The last of the Gryffindor's-" Severus was cut off when Hermione stopped massaging his shoulders and sat on his lap instead.

"What are you-"

"How did Janie do?" She asked, picking up the pile of graded essays and looked through them, until she found the one that she was looking for.

"Did the best in her class," he replied, as Hermione put the pile down, took Janie's essay, and leaned back into Severus, who wrapped his arms around her and smiled.

"It's so nice to be able to finally relax a little," Hermione commented. "I haven't had a second to myself or with you in weeks...probably since right after Mrs. Weasley's call. There's always either a student asking for help, an extra review, or a last minute detail needs straightening out. Speaking of students, what if one sees us like this?" Hermione asked, turning over Janie's paper.

"I doubt they would," Severus replied. "They know to knock and if they don't, they should at _least_ know what will happen to them. If one of them is stupid enough not to knock, they deserve what they'll get."

"This is a really good paper," Hermione said, holding up the object. "I can't believe that she forgot to mention when the potion was created and who it was by though. You even asked for it."

"You should read some of the other papers - I don't even want to know _how_ some of the students even got into Hogwarts in the first place. One of them seriously thinks that I'm the one who created one of the potions, because I knew the ingredients by heart...and that was the answer that they put on their essay."

Hermione laughed, "You should be happy that someone thinks that. I have all of the first years tomorrow. Luckily, I finished the rest of the essays that needed to be graded - I used a charmed quill to mark all of the ones that were off topic, so they were already graded. There were actually quite a few too. And then I set another special charm on the second, third, and fourth years, so that it would grade the papers exactly how I would grade them. You know, why don't you charm a quill to finish a few of your exams tonight?"

"Why?" He asked, with a raised eyebrow. "I don't have anything planned."

Hermione started to twiddle her fingers, "We've run into a…problem."

Severus looked at her seriously, "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine, except for…"

"'Except for' what?"

"Harry knows," Hermione said.

Severus sighed in relief, "You made it sound like there was something wrong with you or the baby."

"No, we're fine. Harry somehow found out from Ginny and Merlin only knows who else found out," Hermione said.

"Then it will make it a lot easier to tell everybody who doesn't know. Besides, I doubt that you would have been able to keep it from Potter much longer – especially if he takes up his habit of unannounced visits."

Hermione looked at him questioningly.

"Especially when he hugs you; I doubt that you eat too much would be the first thing to pop into his mind," he finished, a slight smirk gracing his lips. "You're starting to show."

"What? No, I…I wasn't…not the last time I checked."

He chuckled, "You are now – you haven't noticed?"

"I haven't had a minute to myself! I mean, I'm practically falling asleep in the shower at night or in the morning."

A sly smile crept onto his face, "Do you nee-" He stopped when there was a knock on his door.

"Who has the nerv-"

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping off of his lap. "Remember when I said that Harry knew?"

"Don't tell me…"

"Well, at least it's not an unannounced visit…he said that he was going to come," Hermione said, reaching the door.

"And you neglected to tell me, why?" He asked, now standing with his arms crossed.

"That's why I came over – but we were sidetracked," she said, grabbing the door knob.

"If you told me earlier, I could have 'conveniently' slipped out for the evening," Severus said.

Hermione rolled her eyes and opened the door to see a smiling Harry.

"Hey Hermione," Harry greeted happily, as Hermione shut the door behind him.

As soon as her hand left the door knob, Harry had picked her up and swung her around in a friendly hug.

"Congratulations!" He exclaimed, making her blush.

A soon as Harry put Hermione down and gave her another brief squeeze, he walked over to Severus and shook his hand, "Congratulations, Professor. I'm so happy for the both of you."

Severus looked at him like he was a complete nutter, "Thank you…Are you alright?"

Harry nodded, while Hermione came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Harry's not used to people having babies – this is almost…_new_ to him. There's only ever been Janie…"

"Well, there were some others, but Hermione's like my sister," Harry said, once he saw the look that he was getting from Snape. "By the way, what are you two doing tonight?" He asked with a smile.

"Nothing yet," Hermione said, before Severus could say anything.

His smile broadened, "Good, because I'm going to take you two out for dinner."

Severus glanced back at the exams and knew that there would be no way that he'd be able to finish them tonight.

"That sounds really good," Hermione said. "I'm starving and I really need to get out of the castle."

"I know this isn't exactly on topic, but have you told Ron yet?" Harry asked her.

Hermione shook her head, "Not yet; only a handful of people know."

"When do you plan on telling him?"

Hermione looked at Harry, "I don't know…you can't even seem to hold in the information now – what are you going to do when you see him?"

"Burst," Severus answered for him.

Hermione sighed, "I guess it would be best if we told him tonight then."

"As long as he doesn't tell anybody else yet," Severus said. "Especially anybody who talks to the staff; we're thinking about letting them know on the last day of school, so there's no time for them to fuss over anything."

Harry nodded, "Do you want me to let you get ready? I can floo him while you're getting ready."

"That would be great," Hermione said. "Where are we going?"

Harry smiled, "It's a surprise, but it's nothing to dress up for. Normal, everyday clothing is fine."  
Hermione nodded, while Harry turned around, "I'll be back in a little bit." He said, and left, closing the door shut behind him.

---

Hermione turned around to find Severus suddenly at his desk, sorting through papers.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Setting my quill up to grade the rest of the essays," he replied, taking out his wand.

Hermione smiled, "Are you going to scan the worst essays, so that all of your sarcastic remarks will be kept alive?"

He pulled out an essay that was towards the top of the pile, red ink scribbled all over it, "Precisely. I am _not_ going to grade any essays when I get back."

Hermione watched him for another minute, until he was finished.

"Was it just me, or does Potter seem extra childish tonight?" He asked, looking up.

Hermione gave a small laugh, "You'll have to excuse Harry, he's not really used to this stuff. The first time that he ever experienced a baby was Janie and after that, he wasn't really close enough to any of the other Weasleys who had children. And Harry has never really _had_ a family, until he came to Hogwarts and me Ron and I," se explained, as they left the office and made their way into their quarters.  
"I don't think Ron's as bad though. I mean, I hope he's not. He has a bunch of nieces and nephews already."

"Were they this bad with Janie?" Severus asked.

"Once they got passed their 'Who was it, because I'm going to kill them' phase, let's just say that they spoiled me endlessly – it got quite tiring, actually."

"What did?" He asked, taking a special note so that he wouldn't make the same mistake.

"They were always trying to do stuff for me, like they expected that I couldn't do it on my own anymore. It was always, 'Let me get that,' 'I'll do it for you;' it got so tiring after a while. Especially after the Final Battle, when I told them that I was pregnant; they went absolutely ballistic when they found out I fought," she said, pulling out a shirt from their closet and turned around to find him staring at her.

"You what?"

Hermione's eyes widened.

"_You fought_?"

"Yes…"

"You agreed that you wouldn't! You told me that you were going back inside!"

"I _was_ going to go back inside, you deflected that spell that was aimed at me by the stairs, but Harry needed-" Hermione stopped when there was a knock at their door.

"We'll be waiting in your office, Professor," Harry said.

Hermione took her clean clothes. "All that matters now is that we're both here; both alive," she said and went into the bathroom to finish getting ready, leaving Severus alone.

His eyes swept about the room for a moment, before grabbing a change of clothes for himself.

---

"I think they might wet themselves if we wait any longer," Hermione said.

"So my assumptions are correct – they _are_ animals," Severus said, putting on his jacket.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"I'm not the one who's about to be attacked," Severus pointed out.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, but added jokingly, "Well, we _could_ just 'conveniently' place you right near the Astronomy classroom, and I can play Ding-Dong-Ditch-the-Witch."

His eyes widened, "I don't think so."

Hermione smiled, "Good. Now, let's go before they beg to come in."

When Hermione started to open the door, she couldn't even see out of it, before Ron jumped up and ran towards them.

"Hermione!" He exclaimed, leaping off of the couch and running over to her.

"Hi Ro-" The rest of what she was about to say was muffled by Ron's hug.

He pulled back smiling, "At least we don't have to threaten you about anything this time."

"Ron," Harry scolded him, and elbowed him in the gut.

"They know that I'm joking, Harry," Ron said. "So we are we going for dinner? I'm _starving_!"

"Ron, you're _always_ starving," Harry pointed out.

Ron shot Harry a look, "So are we going to that place that we talked about a few weeks ago?"

Harry smiled, "That's what I was thinking-"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ron asked enthusiastically. "Let's go!"

On their way out of Hogwarts and to the apparation point, besides Ron complaining about how hungry he was, he was also letting Severus and Hermione know how happy he was. Had Ginny been there, she would have used the term "giddy idiots" several times.  
"Ooo, we're going here?" Hermione asked, looking up at the new establishment when they finally stopped. "I've heard about this  
place."

"We're the ones who told you about this place," Ron said. Remember, they have an entire Chudley Cannons wall?"

How could anyone ever forget?" Harry asked jokingly.

When they entered the place, Hermione's eyes immediately began zooming throughout the place. Each wall had a different theme that  
was portrayed by: pictures, newspaper clippings, an array of different objects, and headlines.

"See, isn't this cool?" Ron asked, while Harry talked to the hostess and ended up following her throughout the tables and booths.

Much to Ron's disappointment, the tables near the Chudley Cannon's wall were all taken, along with the entire Quidditch section.

"Who take us an entire section?" Ron complained. "The restaurant shouldn't even get crowded for another hour or so," he said, as they were shown a booth and sat down.

"So," Ron said, right after he sat down and they were given menus, which he immediately snatched up. "Do you know if it's going to be a girl or a boy yet?"

"Not yet," Hermione replied. "We're going to hopefully find that out in two days, when it's the older students' last day of tests."

"You'll let us know, right?" Ron asked.

"Of course," Hermione said.

"You know what? We can take you two out for lunch!" Ron suggested.

"Is that all you ever think about? Is food and when you can eat?" Hermione joked.

"Well, no," Ron said. "There's plenty of other stuff too. Like right now, I'm thinking about food, _and_ what to buy the baby."

"You really don't need to be buying stuff _now_," Hermione said. "You did this last time and I had way too much-"

"You can never have too much," Harry said, as the waitress came over to their table for their drink orders.

Hermione laughed, "You're only saying that, because you spoiled her."

"Me? Never," Harry replied, grinning like mad. "And since we're on the topic…" he trailed off, pulling several miniature bags out form his pocket.

"You didn't…"

"I couldn't resist," Harry replied.

"Thanks a lot, Harry," Ron said. "Now I feel bad, because I don't have anything to give her."

"You didn't know-"

"And I don't need all of this right now," Hermione said. "It's extremely nice, but we're going to be overflowing with stuff and they baby's still nearly six months away," she said, while Harry returned the bags to their normal size and pulled out a few items.

"Then again…" Hermione said, as Harry handed her an adorable stuffed animal, making Ron laugh.

"So does this mean that you're up for gifts?" Harry asked, shaking some of the bags.

"I'll think about it," she said, taking two of the bags and handing one to Severus.

---

For good portion of the night, they discussed the things that Harry bought them and the baby on the way. The conversation soon switched to Janie, when Severus pointed out that mozzarella sticks were on the menu and that they should take Janie there one day.  
Right before their dinners came, Ron, after having drank several glasses of butterbeer, finally got up to use the restroom, and decided to walk passed the Quidditch section. Several moments after he left, he came running back to the table.

"Oh my GOD!" Ron exclaimed. "They…the whole team…they're all…"

"Slow down, Ron," Hermione said.

Ron shook his head, and finally exploded, "The entire Chudley Cannons team is here! That's why all of the seats are taken!"

"No way," Harry said, quickly moving out of the booth.

"I thought you didn't like them," Hermione said, as Ron anxiously jumped from foot to foot.

"I don't, but how often do you see an _entire_ Pro Quidditch team together, in a _public_ place?"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Let's go, Harry!" Ron said impatiently.

"Do you two want to come?" Harry asked.

Severus shook his head.

"No thanks," Hermione politely refused.

"Alright, now let's go!" Ron said, bolting off in the direction of the Quidditch section.

A few minutes after Harry and Ron left, it dawned on Hermione that Janie would love to have a few autographs from a Quidditch team and the two left to find Harry and Ron, which wasn't very hard to do.

"I thought that you said that you didn't want to come," Harry said, when he saw Hermione.

"I didn't, but Janie would _love_ an autograph," Hermione said, as Severus pushed a camera into her hands. "Where'd you get this?"  
She asked.

"I transfigured a salt shaker," he replied. "Don't worry, I'm going to give it back," he said, after seeing the look on his face.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked, looking for him.

Severus pointed to a crowd of people, "Submersed in them."

"You should have seen him," Harry said. "Because he didn't have anything for them to sign, he had them sign his shirt, which just so  
happened to be the same colors as the teams'."

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, once he saw her.

Hermione waved back to him, as he broke through the huddle, ran over to her, grabbed her hand, and pulled her back with him.

"I can't believe you have a camera!" He said, amongst all of the excitement.

"Severus transfigured it for Janie," Hermione replied.

"Can I use it?" He asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Of course."

Ron hugged her, "Did I ever tell you how much I like your boyfriend?"

Hermione put the back of her hand against his forehead, "Are you feeling well?"

"Yeah," Ron said. "Never better," he added, as he accepted the camera from Hermione.

Hermione looked at him strangely, "Harry, there's something wrong with Ron."

"Did he get refused an autograph?" Harry called.

Hermione walked back towards Severus and Harry, "No, he said that he like Severus."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Because he gave me a camera…and Ron's using it now-"

"Weasley," Snape said. "You'd better not use all of the film in there."

"You can always transfigure more," Ron pointed out.

"Ron," Hermione said sternly.

"Alright," he replied.

After they had finished getting their pictures and autographs, they went back to dinner, while reverting back to asking Hermione and

Severus question, after question, after question. When dinner was over, Ron and Harry went home, leaving a very thankful Severus and Hermione, who were both happy that neither of them came back to Hogwarts with them.

---

Harry arrived home that night to find all of the lights off in his house.

"Ginny," he called, as he flicked on the lights, and found Ginny standing with her arms crossed. "There you are."

"Where were you?" She asked.

"Out with Ron," he replied.

"Have a good time?"

"I would have asked if you wanted to go, but you said that you're sick of seeing Ron all of the time," Harry explained.

Ginny nodded and Harry went to leave the room, when she started speaking again.

"I had a very interesting conversation with somebody today," Ginny said.

"Really?" Harry asked.

Ginny nodded, "Care to guess who?"

"An old classmate?" He guessed.

"You can say that…"

"Who was it? Have I talked to them recently?"

"Go anywhere else lately?" She asked, ignoring his question.

"How lately?" He asked.

"Lately enough to buy an adorable, dark blue, baby snitch outfit," Ginny said.

"I-"

"Harry Potter, how could you tell her?"

"I said that I wouldn't tell her 'anytime soon' – it has already been a few weeks," Harry pointed out.

Ginny narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything. Once Harry took his point and knew it was right, there was no getting him to believe  
something different.

"So I guess I'm correct to say that Ron knows," Ginny stated.

"Hermione said that he could," Harry said. "How did you find out?"

"Hermione flooed me after she received your gift. She wasn't too happy that I let it slip. I think she was more worried about other  
people finding out yet than just you."

"I didn't tell anybody else, except Ron, so she doesn't need to worry. So everything's good now, right?" He asked hopefully.

"No!" Ginny said. "I was yelled at over the floo by Hermione about 'How I could let it slip.' You were supposed to wait until I told  
Hermione that you knew!"

Harry looked at Ginny sheepishly, "I know, but she's my best friend. I couldn't hold it in any longer."

Ginny sighed, "I know. You could have invited me, though."

---

The next day at lunch brought along the prospect of Severus having finished with all of his exams, while Hermione only had the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins left to tackle with.

At lunch, Severus told Hermione that he would finish grading her last set of exams, but had to promise that he wouldn't write any rude comments in the margins of the page. He reluctantly agreed, and was secretly glad that he only had the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs to grade.

After he was finished, and the exams ended for the day, there was a knock on his office door.

"Enter," he said.

"Hi Dad," Janie said, once she shut the door.

Severus put his quill and parchment to the side, "Hello Janie."

Janie walked up to her father's desk, took off her bag, and slung it over one of his chairs.

"I have a warning for you…"

He raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

"I don't think you're going to like it very much…"

"Did you fail anything?" He asked.

"No," she said.

"Is your mother having a cow over a minor detail?" He asked.

"Not that I know of," she replied.

"Are your any of your uncles here?"

"Nope."

"Are you dating-"

"I saw Mrs. Weasley leading both of my grandmas to Mum's office," she interrupted.

Severus' eyes widened, "They're in the building right _now_?"

Janie nodded, "They even stopped to ask me how my exams were going."

"Janie, you're done with your exams, right?"

She nodded again.

"Good, because we're going out."

"Really?" Janie asked eagerly.

Severus nodded.

"Yes! Can we get cheese sticks?" Janie asked hopefully, as she pulled off her school robes to reveal muggle clothes.

"I'll even eat one," he replied, heading straight for his door.

Right as his hand reached for the door knob, there was a knock at the door.

"Dammit," Severus hissed, and opened the door to find four women standing in front of him.

"Hello, Severus!" Mrs. Weasley greeted happily.

"I hope you don't mind us stopping by for a bit. We already have, Hermione," she said, as Severus let them into his office.

"You've looked like you've seen a ghost, Severus," Mrs. Weasley said, once he shut his door.

"That's because it's the first time that he's ever had four women at his door," his mother replied. "Hello Janie, I didn't see you there!"

"Hello," Janie replied with a small wave.

"I only see two women and two old witches," Severus remarked seriously, earning a hit on the arm from his mother.

"Watch it," she said. "It's one thing to call me old, but don't you dare call Molly old."

Mrs. Weasley waved Severus' mother off, "You should have heard what Fred told me the other day, Eileen. It was something about  
being 'too old to keep up with the times.'"

Eileen shook her head. "Janie, I hope you never act like that," she said, while Severus quietly retreated behind his desk and drew up a  
comfortable chair for Janie to sit in next to him.

---

Forty-five minutes later, both Severus and Janie looked like zombies. For almost the entirety of an hour, the four women sorted through possible choices for china and then moved onto the bridesmaid gowns. The only break that they had had been when Ginny came through the floo, but It was short lived, because as soon as she saw what they were looking at, she immediately joined them.

"Dad, please make it stop," Janie moaned softly, pulling down the tops of her cheeks.

"There's not stopping them, once they get started," he replied.

"We need to get out of here…" she said.

"You didn't have to stay," he said.

"I couldn't just leave you here alone," Janie said. "Face it, we're trapped like dogs."

Severus looked at his daughter.

"Can we just leave?" Janie whispered.

"I don't know," Severus said.

"It's not like they need your opinion now," she said and then paused for a moment to listen to what they were talking about and found the perfect opportunity.

"Hey Mum, Dad's going to take me out, alright?"

Hermione looked up distractedly, "Yeah, sure."

Janie smiled. "Thanks, Mum," she said, grabbing her father's hand and pulled him up.

"Let's go, Dad, before she _really_ notices," Janie said, as she quickly led him out of the door.

---

"Whew, I didn't think that I could take anymore," Janie said. "If I got to be a part of anything, I'm sure I'd be a little more interested, but I was bored to tears back there!"

Severus raised an eyebrow as they turned a corner.

"How did you exams go?" H asked.

"Really well," Janie replied. "I'm glad that I can remember things really well and the extra studying really paid off too. I _know_ I aced my Charms' exam…and I'm pretty sure that I did _really_ well on my potions' one too," she said, looking up at her father hopefully.

Severus glanced down at his daughter, before returning his gaze back to in front of him.

"Do you remember Sir Magger Lothgar?" He asked.

Janie thought for a moment, before hitting her forehead with her palm. "I totally forgot!" She exclaimed. "How could I forget? He  
created the first flame-retardant potion!"

Severus smirked, "That's the one."

"Uh! How could I forget? My friends and I…well, actually Matt came up with a funny nickname for him," Janie said, as they stepped on to the grounds.

"Speaking of your friends, it was nice of you to help Mr. Narls out before your exam," her father said casually. "I guess you've completely put the broomstick incident behind you…"

"Yeah," Janie said. "He told me why he did it – and it sort of…just slipped away into the past."

Severus nodded and was quiet for a moment, "Are those new headbands?"

Janie touched her green headband, "Not really, I got them for Christmas."

"So Mr. Narls was brave enough to purchase hair accessories," Severus said.

Janie looked up at him.

"You left his card lying open on your pile of gifts," he explained.

"Oh," Janie replied. "You don't have to worry about anything, Dad; we're just friends."  
_  
I lost count on how many times I've heard _that_ over the years_, Severus thought.

"I don't think Lyss likes him too much, Matt's happy though, because he's not the only boy anymore," Janie said.

"Is that why they didn't accompany you and Mr. Narls to your last trip to the library?" Severus pressed.

"Not really," Janie said. "Lyss had to study for an exam and we couldn't find Matt anywhere." Janie paused for a moment, before asking, "So, where are we going?"

"How about Diagon Alley for a change?"

Janie's eyes brightened, "Really? Tha would be _awesome_!"

A smile twinged at Severus' lips, "And once your mother's done, she can meet us for dinner and you can get your cheese sticks."

Janie's black eyes sparkled, "That's the best think I've heard all week!"

---

"Please, Dad?" Janie pleaded, standing outside of a shop. "I _promise_ I won't beg for _anything_."

Severus sighed and looked at the shop's large, brightly colored sign. "Alright," he said, and then his eyes landed on a large sign.

_Speechless_!

_Tired of having to talk in class_?  
_Does your teacher like to pick on you_?  
_Just take one and talking's gone_!  
_Buy now for only 3 sickles a package_!

_Great, just another problem to have at Hogwarts_, Severus thought.

"Thank you!" Janie exclaimed and hugged her father, before running into the shop.  
_  
I hope they're all not working today_, Severus thought, and then braced himself, before walking into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

Three seconds didn't even pass after he walked in, before someone had noticed them.

"Janie!" One of the twins exclaimed.

"Hey Uncle George," Janie replied, as George walked over to greet her.

"Are exams over already?" He asked.

"No. My dad and I decided to get away, while your mum and my mum and grandmas discussed the wedding," Janie said.

"Bored you to tears now, did they?" He asked.

"You have no idea," Janie replied.

"Hello, Professor," George greeted, shaking his hand. "I don't ever remember seeing you in here before."

"Mr. Weasley," he said curtly. "That's because I've never been in here before."

"Ah!" George said. "Please, take a look around."

"Fred!" George called, after Severus walked away. "Look who's hear!"

Fred popped out of the back room, "Janie! How are you?" His eyes suddenly landed on Severus. "Professor Snape! I thought that I'd  
never live to see the day when you'd willingly walk in here. Where's Hermione?"

"Planning the wedding," Janie answered.

"You know, Janie," Fred started, sharing a smile with his brother.

"We haven't seen you in here in a while," George said.

"And you know what that means…"

"Everything's on us!" George finished.

Janie's smile was positively huge.  
_  
No wonder why she said that she wouldn't ask for anything…she _knew_ that the terrible two would give her everything for  
free_! Severus thought, as the twins led Janie into the back room and then through another door.

"This place is for our most valued customers," George said.

"It's a completely private manner," Fred added, as he and George started to look through different objects and started to load up  
Janie's arms.

"You'll need this to survive the summer…And this to survive Filch next year; it's a new product. And of course, this will teach Peeves a valuable lesson in pranks…I've heard that he hasn't been given a new product in ages. Can you give it to him for us?"  
Janie nodded, as Severus watched from the doorway as the twins walked up and down the isles, continuing to pull things off of the shelves and put them into Janie's arms.

"Professor, can you please come here?" Fred asked.

Raising an eyebrow, Severus walked over and completely expected the duo to start loading his arms up with stuff for Janie.

"I think you'll appreciate this," Fred said, giving him a large box. "One of the best anti-theft devices out there that will make it plain to see who was trying to steal. You could use that on your private stores to see how many students try stealing from them. It turns the little thieves a shade of blue for hours on end. I believe the longest time it lasted was for a few days, and that was on Ron…boy, was he furious! Anyways, each box should last for a week or so," he said, picking up several more boxes and piling them into his arms. "There, that should be enough. If you want anymore, just send an owl."

"And Professor, we know that you secretly want to try them out on any 'unsuspecting dunderheads,'" George said.

After more than another half and hour in the shop, the twins had finally finished loading Janie's and Fred's arms up with their products.  
The two had reasoned if they let her father see half of the things that they gave her, he would undoubtedly not let them leave the shop. And much to Severus' dismay, Janie had persuaded them to shrink everything and send it back to Hogwarts, or more precisely, her dorm room.

When they were finally out of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, Severus and Janie walked up and down the streets of Diagon Alley, occasionally detouring off into a different shop.

"Hey Dad?" Janie asked.

Severus stopped.

"Can we go in there?" Janie asked, pointing towards a clothing store. "One of the cats in our dorm room ate my favorite shirt…well, chewed on the sleeves, and I want to get some new ones. And besides, I want to check something else out too."

Severus looked at the shop, _I supposed it would only be a matter of time, before I went clothes shopping_.

"Sure," he said.

"Yes," Janie exclaimed. "Thanks, Dad."

Instead of normally bolting in to the shop, Janie waited for her dad and walked in with him.

The first think that met Severus' eyes, were the bright lights that shined down on them at the entrance. Luckily, the further back they walked, the lights' intensity decreased, as Janie led him to a section of the shop that contained her clothes. In hardly any time at all, Janie found exactly what she was looking for and emerged from the racks of clothes carrying several different shirts.

"Found them," Janie said.

"Are you sure that they'll fit?" Severus asked.

Janie nodded, "Positive."

"Was there anything else that you wanted to see?" He asked.

"There was one thing," Janie said, and started to lead her father down several isles.

"Here we go," Janie said, stopping outside of the baby section.

Janie looked up at her father, who was staring at everything.

"C'mon Dad, I want you to see some stuff," she said, tugging on his hand.

"How do you know about this stuff?" Severus asked, almost absentmindedly.

"One of my best friends back at Mum's house, her mum was going to have a baby and I went shopping with them one day. And this is  
only a small fraction of what some of the other stores have. And it's toward the back of the store, so no one can really see us," Janie said.

"It's not that that I'm entirely worried about, your mother hasn't really gone stopping yet…and she wants too…"

"Mum will be fine," Janie said, stopping by the clothes. "I really like looking at some of these, because they have some really cute sayings on some of them," she commented, pointing at a little one-piece that said, "

After a little while of looking, Severus and Janie found a few items that they just couldn't pass up. Shortly after they left the shop,  
Severus stopped and pulled Janie into an alley.

"What's wrong?" She asked, as a silvery otter came zooming around a corner and she suddenly heard her mother's voice.

"Alright, you two can come back now. They've all gone home," Hermione's voice said.

"That's cool," Janie whispered, as the otter finished and then flew around Janie's legs, before it disappeared.

"I saw the patronus coming and didn't wasn't anybody else to overhear it, because I wasn't sure what she had to say," Severus  
explained. "People are awfully nosy when it comes to patronuses and who they belong to."

"Are you going to have mum meet us for dinner?" Janie asked.

Severus nodded and within seconds, a silvery, mystical hawk flew before them.

"That is so cool," Janie said, and the hawk landed on her shoulder.

Janie watched as the bird looked at her, jumped off her shoulder, and then soared out of the alley.

"Can you teach me how to do that? _Please_?"

"It's a very advanced piece of magic," Severus said. "I believe Potter didn't get it until his third year here."

Janie looked up at him, "But he didn't have you. You and mum and probably the smartest people in the wizarding world…my _parents_  
are the smartest." Janie smiled, "And I'm their daughter. I'm pretty sure that I can at least _try_ doing it."

Pride swelled up inside Severus' chest, but all that was visible, was a smile, "Do you really want to learn?"

"Yes!" Janie exclaimed. "_Please_?"

A smile remained firmly planted on his face, "Then I'll be happy to teach you."

---

As promised, Janie got to order her cheese sticks at dinner. To surprise her, Severus thought that it would be a good idea to take Janie to Thank Merlin for Magic, and he was right. Besides their mozzarella sticks, Janie absolutely _loved_ the place.

While they were there, Janie had found an entire section devoted to Hogwarts that had just recently opened. Hermione thought that it was really neat, until she found out that they had somehow obtained a picture of all of the current staff. Severus' eye balls nearly popped out of his head when he saw that there were several pictures of him on the wall. One was from a newspaper clipping, another from a recent Quidditch game, and for the last one, he had _no idea_ where or when it was taken.

After the discovery, to get off of the topic of the newly added section, Hermione decided to ask Janie about her exams. That ended up with Janie replaying almost every detail to her parents, when Severus pulled an envelope out of his pocket, and handed it over to Janie.

"What's this?" Janie asked, taking the envelope.

"Open it," he said, motioning with his hand.

Janie opened it and nearly dropped the object, "My results!"

"Her results?" Hermione asked. "How did you get those? Those were only due a few hours ago!"

He smirked, "What Dumbledore doesn't know, can't hurt him…I had them sent to me."

"How did you do?" Hermione asked eagerly.

Janie smiled and handed over the piece of parchment to her mother.

"You've receive top marks!" Hermione exclaimed. "That's absolutely amazing!"

Janie's smile was positively huge, "Thanks, Mum. And I didn't spend the whole month studying, either! I remembered a ton of stuff,"  
she said and got up to walk around the booth to her father.

"Thanks, Dad," Janie said, and hugged him.

"For such a good job well done," Hermione began. "If you want, you can get the brownie bowl for desert."

Janie's eyes widened, "Please, no brownie…How about the giant chocolate cookie instead?"

---

Before they returned to Hogwarts, the three discussed what else to do over the summer, besides the wedding. It came as a shock to both Hermione and Janie that he had a few surprises in the back of his manor that he didn't tell him about, including a small lake. If that wasn't enough for Janie, her father also said that there were charms on it, so there were no inhabiting magical creatures and the waster was clean enough from.

Besides the summer, they also talked briefly about the baby, Hogwarts next year, and a few other things. Not much to her mother's happiness, Janie told Hermione that she and her friends were going to play Quidditch at the Quidditch Pitch tomorrow, because all of the older students still had to sit through several more exams and there were two N.E.W.T.s left that needed to be taken.

---

The next day, Janie and Matt met Scott at the Quidditch Pitch. The skies were clear, the weather was warm, and there was a light breeze, or in other words, perfect Quidditch Weather.

"Where's Lyss?" Janie asked.

Matt shrugged, "I dunno. She was following me for a few minutes, but then she ran away and said that she had to go and do something-"

"Sorry I'm late!" Lyss called, running up to the group. "I forgot that I had to go and do something."

"What?" Janie asked.

"Well, since we're leaving tomorrow, I had to give Logan my address, so that he could write…"

Matt looked at Lyss, who was waiting with a broomstick in hand and crinkled his nose up, "Since when do _you_ like Quidditch?"

"Since she found out about Oliver Wood," Janie said, walking up next to Matt.

"Oliver _Wood_?" Scott asked.

Janie nodded, "Ever since she heard you guys talking about him being traded."

Matt surveyed his sister again, "But she doesn't even know _anything _about Quidditch."

"That's not true," Lyss said. "I know what a keeper is. And I know all about the seeker's position."

"That's because Janie plays seeker and Wood plays keeper," Matt said.

"You know Matt, it's your fault that she's like this now; she saw the picture of Wood in your magazine," Janie said.

"Why do you like Oliver Wood?" Scott asked. "I mean, there are loads of better players out there."

Lyss narrowed her eyes at him, "And which ones aren't Slytherin?"

"I never said that they were," Scott countered. "I hang around with you three, don't I?"

"You hang around with Janie," Lyss corrected.

Scott narrowed his eyes, "If I only hang around with Janie, then why are you two here? I hang around with the _three _of you."

"Alright," Janie said. "Lyss, Scott chooses to be here. Besides, he likes us better than his other friends," Janie added jokingly.

"Yeah," Scott said sarcastically. "My friends can't stand being outsmarted by a Gryffindor."

"Hey, _did _they ever find out about that prank?" Lyss asked.

"No," Janie said, smiling. "They still have no idea that I did it. I'll let them know one day, because I want them to know in the future who did it. Now let's start playing, before the older students come out and we won't have the pitch to ourselves anymore."

---

"Want to go again?" Janie asked.

"This is no fair," Lyss said. "You and Scott are killing us; can't we switch teams at all?"

"Are you really sure that you guys don't want to play again?"

Lyss nodded.

"Alright, fine," Janie said. "Matt, you can play with me."

"What?" Scott said. "That's no fair!"

"Yes it is," Janie said. "Boy and girl versus boy and girl."

"But Janie," Lyss said. "I wanted to be on your team."

"See," Scott said. "And Matt…Matt?" He asked, when he noticed that Matt was paying attention to something at the other end of the field.

"Ugh," Matt said. "Look who it is," he said, motioning towards the group of students who walked on to the opposite end of the field.

Janie looked up to find Damien Brushour and his friends.

"What are _they_ doing here?" Lyss asked. "It's the ending of the year, and they're leaving. You'd think they'd want to get everything together and gather their mementos, or whatever."

"Follow me," Janie said, and sprinted under the stands; Matt, Lyss, and Scott following behind her.

Quietly swerving around the supports under the stands, Janie stopped near where Damien and his cronies were.

"You should get them back," Scott whispered.

"For what?" Janie asked. "Damien hasn't done anything in a while. Sure, he still glares and me and gives me evil looks, but he hasn't really _said_ anything."

"Didn't you hear about what happened back towards the beginning of the year?" Scott asked.

Janie narrowed her eyes, "No."

"Really?" Scott asked. "I thought you knew." He stopped and turned to Lyss and Matt, "Did you two hear?"

They shook their heads. "Heard what?" Matt asked.

"You didn't hear how Damien insulted your mother and Sna- _Professor_ Snape threatened him in the hallway?" Scott said.

"No!" Janie said. "How'd you hear this?"

"One of my friends was passing in the hallway and they heard it," Scott said.

"Damien would say stuff under his breath when I passed him in the Common Room," Janie said. "I really didn't want to start anything,  
so I didn't say anything. I told my dad that I wouldn't punch him in the face again...and I'm pretty sure I promised someone that I  
wouldn't start anymore fights."

Scott smirked, "They never said anything about pranks though."

Janie smiled.

"Damien acts like he's real immature," Matt said. "I saw him giving you a really foul look one day. Just look on the bright side, I doubt  
that he'd ever get even with you...he doesn't want to end up with another broken nose now, does he?"

"Actually, I also promised that I wouldn't break anymore noses," Janie said.

"If Damien acted like that then, imagine how he would act if he ever found out that your parents are expecting another kid," Lyss said.

Matt and Scott wheeled around to look at her.

"_Alyssa_!" Janie hissed quietly.

"Oppsie," Lyss replied.

"Snape with a _baby_?" A voice laughed from behind them. "That will be amusing to see. I wonder how many times he'll try to give it a  
detention."

Janie immediately whipped around to glare at Damien, who was smirking with a broomstick in his hand.

"That was _not_ funny," Janie said seriously.

"Because it's so true!" He said, and hopped on to his broomstick.

"You're so-" Janie stopped as Damien zoomed passed her on his broomstick and out of the stands.

"Next time, keep your voices down. You should learn from your father Snape," he shouted over his shoulder. "I thought he was supposed to be a spy."

Janie went to run at the older boy, but her friends' hands shot out and grabbed her.

"Don't listen to him," Lyss said.

"He's just a giant git," Matt said.

Janie returned to watching them, before defiantly walking out of the stands and over to the edge of the field.

"Janie, what are you doing?" Lyss asked, running to keep up with her friend.

"Giving Damien a 'good-bye' present," she replied with gritted teeth.

For a moment, Janie watched the group flying above their heads, until her hand slowly went to grasp her wand in her pocket.

"Hey Damien," she called, getting his attention. "I see you still don't have any talent on a broomstick. If you ever wanted to, I could always give you lessons. And since you're a special case, in need of a lot of help, I'll give them to you for free!"

Damien immediately started to descend onto the field. As soon as he reached the ground, Janie flicked her wand inside her pocket just as he was stepping onto the ground. In a flash, his dress pants dropped to around his ankles, he tripped over them, and stumbled onto the ground.

"Janie!" Lyss gasped, while Matt and Scott burst out laughing.

"Love your boxers!" Matt called, trying his hardest not to laugh while he was talking.

"SNAPE!" Damien screamed.

"If you mess with my family, I'll mess with you," Janie shouted.

Trying to get up quickly, Damien tried to pull his pants back up, but tripped over them and fell again. After he stumbled a few more  
times, he finally started to stand up. When the four saw this, they started running up towards the castle. When Janie turned around, she saw Damien still trying to fasten his pants, as he was running after them, his friends trailing close behind.

"You're dead, Snape!" Damien exclaimed.

- - -

"I can't wait to tell Janie the news," Hermione said, as they walked up the path to Hogwarts.

"She'll-"

"SNAPE!"

Hermione and Severus froze, looking all around them.

"If you mess with my family, I'll mess with you!"

"Uh-oh," Hermione murmured. "_Please_ don't tell me..." Hermione trailed off when she saw Janie, Scott, Matt, and Lyss running for the  
hills, laughing their heads off.

"_Oh no_..." Hermione said.

"What has that girl gotten herself into now?" Severus groaned. "I swear-"

"You're dead, Snape!" They heard a boy shout.

"That impertinent little arse," Severus said.

"_Severus_!" Hermione was about to open her mouth again, when she saw Damien Brushour and his three friends chasing after the four younger students.

"Can't this just stop?" Hermione groaned. "We need to stop them."

"I can't _wait_ until he graduates and leaves this school," Severus said. "_Brushour_!" He bellowed. "Stop!"

Damien quickly glanced over his shoulder, before turning back forwards and started running faster.

"Damn boy," Severus said and took off after him.

"Mr. Brushour, I said _stop_!" Snape shouted, but the boy ignored him. "Do _not_ make me take my wand out."

"Severus!" Hermione called out. "Bugger, he's not going to hear me, while he's too busy yelling," she said and then started off in the  
direction Severus was currently bounding across the grounds.

Damien's three friends immediately stopped and Severus passed them up.

"Damien, stop!" Anne called out. "Don't be stupid!"

Once they were on the stairs, Janie turned around to see Damien quickly closing in on her, but smiled when she saw her father closer to him that Damien was to her.

"Snape, you are so dead when I get my hands on you-ooo!" The rest of Damien's words were choked out when Severus grabbed the back of his collar and yanked him backwards.

"_Why_ are you threatening _my daughter_?" He asked harshly.

"She...she..." Damien tried to catch his breath. "She jinxed...my pants..."

"So you're going to kill my daughter, because she _jinxed your pants_?"

"They fell down!" Damien raged.

"I don't care if they fell down, you _do not threaten my daughter_. What is it with you and threatening my family?" He asked. "I thought  
we went over what would happen if you were to threaten my family again," he said, as Hermione ran up beside them.

"I didn't threaten your _entire_ family," Damien said. "If you can call it that," he mumbled.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor," Hermione said breathlessly.

Damien's eyes went wide, "_What_?"

"You heard me...fifty points...from...Gryffindor," she said.

Damien's eyes flared, "What about _her_?!"

"She will be punished too-"

"Like you'll punish your own daughter," Damien said. "She didn't get punished when she broke my nose."

"You're lucky _I _don't break your nose-"

"_Severus_!" Hermione exclaimed. "You should _never _say that to a student!"

"Treat others as the way you wanted to be treated," he replied.

"Why don't you just listen to your pregnant girlfriend, already?" Damien asked.

Snape's eyes flashed dangerously, making Damien back up a few feet.

"Don't you know when to shut your mouth?" Severus asked vehemently.

Damien's eyes went wide, the decision to talk back being battled out in his mind.

"One hundred points from Gryffindor," Severus said calmly.

"_What_?" He turned to Hermione. "You're not going to let him do that, _are you_?"

"You're getting off easy," Hermione replied.

"I bet you wouldn't take off that many points if I was in Slytherin," Damien replied.

Snape got close to the boys face. "If you were in Slytherin, you would be expelled," he said lowly. "And your house would be in the negatives. And before you go off and shoot your mouth off again, I would have done it to my _own_ house, so it would not have mattered to me."

Severus then turned around to take points off of Janie, but immediately stopped when he saw Dumbledore standing behind the four children.

**A/N: I'm sad to say that this chapter is near the ending…I believe there are probably going to be two left. I know I said that before, but I'm pretty sure now that that's it…besides the epilogue. If there's anything that you want to see wrapped up, let me know, so I can make sure that I have it answered in the upcoming chapters. Thanks again for all of the reviews and for reading this story! **


	30. Secrets, Secrets are No Fun

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any money off of this. The property of _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

**Alright, sorry again for the delay...school's been really hectic. Luckily, I was exempt from finals, so I had some extra time and was able to finish up this part of the chapter. Hope everyone enjoys! And for those of you who are interested, I have also been working on the second chapter to _Hear You Me_...so far, I plan on making it more than a one-shot.**

**Happy Holidays!**

---

"What is going on here?" Dumbledore demanded.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Damien exclaimed hopefully, turning around to look at the headmaster. "Please, Professor Snape just took one _hundred_ points from me!"

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, "I was enjoying the view from my office, when I saw you chasing after four first years, Mr. Brushour."

"Sir, Janie Snape jinxed my trousers to fall down on the Quidditch field!" He exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Janie.

"Is this true?" Dumbledore asked, turning to look at Janie.

"Yes, sir," Janie admitted.

"Professor," Damien opened his mouth to complain some more, but Dumbledore waved him off.

"Mr. Brushour, I'm sure there's more to the story than you're going to tell me. Do you wish to explain how you lost your house one hundred and fifty points?"

Damien stood gaping.

"Severus, would you care to explain?" The old wizard asked.

Severus glared darkly at Damien with his arms crossed and a wand in one hand. "He not only threatened to harm Ms. Snape, but he also referred ill-fully about another Professor. His behavior was extremely disrespectful and he's lucky to even be graduating this year," he replied evenly.

"How long have you been standing there?" Hermione asked.

"Long enough," Dumbledore replied, turning to Janie. "Twenty points for jinxing Mr. Brushour's trousers to fall down, Ms. Snape," he said and then turned to Damien. "Mr. Brushour, please go to my office and wait for me there. The gargoyle already knows that you are coming."

Damien glanced at Snape and then at Janie, before walking up the stairs and retreated into the Entrance Hall.

"Now, I believe five points shall be awarded to all four of you for outrunning a pack of seventh years," Dumbledore announced, looking at Janie, Lyss, Matt, and Scott, with a smile on his face, before turning to Severus and Hermione. "If I could award points to Professors, I would; Severus…I never knew that you could run so fast," he said, earning a dark glare.

"Ms. Snape, what on earth possessed you to make another student's trousers fall down?" Dumbledore asked.

"Damien overheard us talking under the bleachers at the Quidditch Pitch and made fun of my dad twice-"

"And Janie too," Scott spoke up.

"So I decided that he needed a graduation gift," Janie finished, while Matt and Lyss were nodding.

"Thank you, Ms. Snape. The four of you may go back to your common room now."

Dumbledore watched as the four traveled back inside and then faced Hermione and Severus again.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" He asked, looking at Hermione's flushed face.

Hermione nodded.

"I trust that everything went alright?" Dumbledore asked, the twinkle glowing in his eyes.

Hermione nodded, "Everything's going as expected."

"Splendid!" The older wizard exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "That's the best news that I've heard all day! Well, I must be going now…Mr. Brushour should be waiting for me. You know Severus, I think I'm going to become a Potions Master – besides being locked down there all day, it seems to be working for you," he finished, walking up the castle's front stairs.

"Only one more day," Severus said. "One more day and I don't have to see anybody on the staff for a month…"

He trailed off when Hermione started to slowly walk away from him.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I get the hint," she said, trying not to smile. "If you didn't want to see me anymore, you could have just said something..."

Severus reached out and gently grabbed Hermione's arm, "I didn't mean you. You're the only exception."

Hermione smiled.

"Besides," he began smoothly. "I don't really think of you as another member of the staff."

"Really?" Hermione asked, as Severus swung her around to stand in front of him.

"Look at the staff; they're pestering, incredibly nosy, and have the annoying habit of trying to mess with other people's lives. You are _definitely _not a member of that staff."

"So you really don't think I'm annoying?" She asked, a small smirk popping up on her face. "Or embarrassing?"

He raised an eyebrow, "No."

"Not even when I do this?" She asked, and then reached up and kissed him.

He smirked, "If you were to do that in the Great Hall, I'd probably say otherwise."

"Really now?" Hermione asked. "Like at the Ball?"

Severus shot her a knowing look.

She laughed, "I never saw your face so red in all of my life."

He tried to choke back a small laugh, "So what do you want to do now?"

"Harry and Ron are usually true to their word, so I'm pretty sure that we'll be expecting them to show up in a little bit for lunch…"

Severus rolled his eyes.

"And I really wanted to tell Janie the news, before we tell anyone else…which is why I didn't tell Dumbledore anything," Hermione said.

"Then we'll go tell her," Severus said. "She's only in the Gryffindor common room."

"Then let's go," Hermione said, grabbing his hand and pulling him up the school's stairs.

"You're going in to get her though," Severus said.

"That's fine," Hermione said. "I haven't been in here in a while anyways-"

"Severus! I'm so glad I caught you so soon!" Remus exclaimed. "Dumbledore asked me to tell you that he needs to talk to you in his office."

"For what?" Severus asked.

"Damien Brushour…Minerva is in there too," Remus replied.

Severus sighed. "Fine," he said, and then turned towards Hermione. "You can go ahead and tell her; don't wait for me. Potter and Weasley will be here soon."

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.

He nodded, "Yes."

"Alright," Hermione said, and watched as Severus followed Remus to Dumbledore's office.

---

"Thanks Mum, I really didn't feel like staying in the common room anymore…it's too nice of a day outside," Janie said, as she followed her mother to the lake. "Where'd dad go?"

"Dumbledore," Hermione replied.

"Sorry about the whole Damien thing…again," Janie said. "He's such a huge git."

"Janie…"

"He really is, Mum! He's such a jerk! He's always making fun of dad and now he's making fun of dad and the baby."

"How did he find out?" Hermione asked.

"He overheard Lyss," Janie replied. "He's lucky that I didn't jinx his mouth shut…or I didn't jinx something else…"

"Well, I know something that will make you happy," Hermione smiled. "We went to the doctor today-"

"Really?" Janie asked hopefully.

"Mm-hm, and we found out the sex of the baby."

"You know how I went on and on about a brother? Well, it really doesn't matter, because I would be just as happy with a sister-"

"Really? Because you're going to have a little brother in November-"

"Yes!" Janie exclaimed, getting up to hug her mother.

"I thought that it didn't matter," Hermione laughed, as Janie hugged her.

"It doesn't, but I still like it," Janie said. "That's awesome, Mum…I bet dad's happy."

"He hasn't shown it very much yet, but I know he's jumping for joy on the inside. Well, as far as 'jumping for joy' goes for your father. But he doesn't know that when we found out, I saw his eyes shining," Hermione said.

"Do you have any names picked out yet?" Janie asked.

"Not really," Hermione replied. "We've discussed a few. Do you like any?"

"Jaden," Janie thought. "I would have said Aiden, but that's my cousin's name."

---

"It was so weird," Ron said, as they sat down at the restaurant for lunch. "Fred and George came over and asked when the next time I'd see you would be. Then, they kept asking where we were going when I told them that I was just going out to meet you, Hermione. They're completely bonkers."

"So," Harry began. "Did you find out?"

Hermione smiled, "Yes."

"And?" Ron asked.

Hermione looked towards Severus.

"Go ahead," he said.

"We're going to have a boy!" Hermione said happily.

"A boy!" Ron exclaimed. "That's awesome, Hermione," the red head said, and jumped up to hug her, and then shake Snape's hand.

Harry had a wide, goofy grin on his face, "This is so great, Hermione! You guys are going to have a son!" He said joyfully and hugged Hermione. After, he walked around to where Severus was sitting and hugged him to, earning a very shocked expression from him. "Congratulations, sir!"

"So, have you two thought of any names yet?" Harry asked, sitting back down in his seat.

"We've discussed a few," Hermione replied. "We both really like Trenton and Adrian. Personally, I still like the name Caden, but it won't work out."

"No Ron?" Ron joked.

"Ron Snape," Severus crinkled his nose. "I don't think so."

"Any others?" Harry asked.

"Well, I wanted a part of his name," she said, pointing to Severus. "But he won't let me."

_Now you've got Harry and Ron on your back_, Hermione thought, with a smirk.

"Not again," Severus groaned. "Hermione-"

"If it was going to be a girl, did you have any names picked out?" Harry purposely interrupted.

Hermione looked at him, "I think we were going to go with Samantha."

"SS," Ron stated. "Why don't you do that with a boy's name too?"

"Her middle name would be Rose," Severus informed them.

"That's a pretty name," Ron commented.

Hermione nodded and went to say something, but was stopped by someone walking up to their table.

"Hey!" A cheerful voice greeted.

"What's going on?" A similar voice asked joyfully.

"Fred, George; what are _you_ two doing here?" Ron asked. "_You're_ supposed to be at the shop."

"The shop will be fine for a little while by itself," George said.

"Besides, Charlie's in for the weekend and he said that he can watch the shop for a little bit," Fred said.

"Why are you here?" Ron replied.

"What, you're not happy to see your two favorite people?" Fred joked.

"That's debatable," Ron replied.

"Always is," George said. "But the real reason as to why we're here, is because when Professor Snape and Janie stopped by the joke shop, they reminded us about the board."

It took Hermione a few seconds to realize what they were talking about, before her eyes widened.

"What board?" Ron asked clueless.

"Oh, Hermione knows! Look at the look on her face!" Fred said, nodding and pointing at Hermione. "Tell them, Hermione."

Everybody turned to look at her.

"The board…at New Years…"

"Bingo!" Fred said. "A lot of people are going to be pretty happy."

"No-"

"Except me! I didn't bet on anyone!" Ron pouted.

"_Ron_!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Well, I should have…secretly at least," he replied.

Hermione turned to Severus, as if expecting him to say something.

"Weasley, you should know by now that gambling is bad for you," he said,

"Not unless it makes me money," Ron countered.

Hermione rolled her eyes, while Fred and George both stuck out a hand.

"Congratulations!" They said in unison and each took turns shaking Hermione and Severus' hands, and then drew up a chair as the end of their table.

"As a treat, how about you forget about the board?" Hermione suggested.

"That's a good idea…"

"But, sorry, no," the twins replied.

"So when are you going to tell everybody?" One of the twins asked.

"We haven't really decided yet," Hermione replied.

"Then we have the perfect solution - we'll just pay everybody their winnings, and then they'll know."

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "Not like that, _please_!"

"They haven't even told the staff yet," Harry supplied.

"I wouldn't blame you there," George agreed. "Are you having a boy or a girl?"

"Boy," Severus replied.

"Congratula-"

"If you really don't want anything said, you could always name your son 'Fred,'" Fred interrupted jokingly.

"I don't think so," Hermione said.

"C'mon…George wouldn't name his kid after me…"

"Somehow, I don't think Patrick Fred Weasley makes a good name," Harry laughed.

"Sure it does," Fred replied.

That's because it's your name," Ron said. "And don't look at me; if I have any kids, I'm not naming them either Fred of George."

"And definitely not 'Fredina' or 'Fredwina,'" George said.

"What?" Hermione asked, choking on her drink.

"Yeah," George replied. "That's what he said what Katie and I should name Patrick, if he was a girl."  
"Don't count on mine either," Harry said.

"Oh yeah…" Fred said. "I still have Ginny!"

"No," Harry said.

"Why don't you name your own kids Fred and Fredwina?" Ron asked.

"Who said that I'm even going to have any kids?" Fred pointed out. "I'm living the life of a bachelor-"

Ron snorted, "Or you can just say that Angelina still won't take you back."

Fred glared at his brother, "That was below the belt."

"Now what did you do?" George asked.

"I don't know!" Fred exclaimed. "She somehow finds out about everything! And I don't know ho - _Katie_!"

"What?" George asked.

"Your wife! She's best friends with Angelina still! I bet you anything that she's sharing all of my stupid moments with her and they're laughing about it! They're out right now too," Fred said, standing up. "Let's go, George."

"I think I'm going to stay right here," George replied.

Fred stopped, "Huh?"

"I don't want to get involved with you and Angelina - and now Katie. I'm keeping myself out of this. Especially, because I don't want to be sleeping on the couch for a week. Have fun, Fred. I'm catching up with everybody," he added, and moments later, Fred left.

"You don't mind if I join you guys, do you?" He asked.

"No, go ahead," Hermione replied.

"Don't worry about Fred. He'll end up saying something stupid and he'll be back here before you know it."

---

"Are you going to tell the staff, or am I?" Hermione asked, as they walked to the end of the year staff meeting.

Severus shrugged, "We both can. Besides, the meeting usually comes with less than an hour of Dumbledore talking and then the rest of the time spent with the remaining staff celebrating another year over. Then there's graduation, and afterwards, we get freedom."

"You sound just like the students," Hermione said.

"No I don't," Severus said. "By the end of the summer, they can't wait to come back."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I know you like teaching."

"Not the dunderheads that come with it," Severus replied. "Those I can do without."

"They're not so bad," Hermione defended.

"Maybe they'll get better now that their leader is finally leaving," Severus said, and then added sarcastically, "Mr. Brushour will be missed by all."

Hermione ignored him and opened the door to enter the meeting.

---

Luckily, the meeting didn't drag on, as Hermione thought it would. Strangely though, throughout the entire meeting, every time that Dumbledore looked at Hermione, he smiled and the twinkle in his eyes shone through. Then if that wasn't enough, Hagrid kept sending her wide, happy smiles, which after a while, started to make Hermione feel very uneasy.

"Severus, Hagrid keeps looking at me, like I'm a long lost hippogriff," Hermione whispered.

Severus glanced at him, "Maybe he's finally inhaled too much of his pesticides."

"Severus!" Hermione hissed and elbowed him in the gut.

"I'm serious," he said. "Do you know how much that man uses?" He whispered back, completely serious. "Maybe he's growing a little something extra in his garden."

Hermione tried to bite back a laugh, "Shut up, Severus."

He smirked, "I'm shocked that we haven't started acting like that yet, because it gets in our food."

Hermione stepped on his foot and covered her mouth, trying to feign a cough. Luckily for her, Dumbledore was just about to end the meeting.

"I hope everybody has had a great year and that next year is even better," Dumbledore said, and when he finished, several members of the staff got up, including Hagrid.

"Oh no," Hermione said. "He's coming over here…what's wrong with him today? Severus, help me," she said, standing up.

"Congratulations, Hermione!" Hagrid said, lifting her off of her feet and hugging her. "Why, I didn't know that you and Professor Snape over there are expectin' another kid," Hagrid announced, and everybody in the room went dead silent and looked at Severus. Once they say the look on his face, they entire staff room exploded with noise.

"Dumbledore," Severus growled, going to confront the older wizard, had it not been for Hagrid, who picked up Severus and hugged him too.

"Hagrid…put me down," Severus said.

Hagrid set him back down and looked at him, "I'm sorry, Professor, but I jus' wanted ter congratulate you. I'm so happy for the both of you."

"When did Dumbledore tell you?" Severus asked.

"Oh, he didn't tell me - I overheard 'em. He was talkin' to Professor McGonagall last night," Hagrid replied.

"So Severus," Dumbledore strolled by casually. "Do you know what you're having yet?"

Severus looked around to find Hermione swamped by most of the female teachers.

"I'm getting a migraine," he replied.

"Come now, Severus," Dumbledore said, wrapping a friendly arm around his shoulders.

"We're having a boy," Severus informed the gathered teachers.

"Splendid!" Dumbledore exclaimed, and he finally dropped his arm from around the younger man's shoulders.

"How delightful!" Professor Flitwick squeaked. "Severus Snape, Jr.!"

"That's highly unlikely," Severus replied.

"Why not?" The small wizard asked.

"Because, I don't want it," he stated simply.

"It's going to be so much fun having a little toddler around the castle!" Flitwick squealed. "The only time Hogwarts ever sees them are at graduation!"

"That will definitely be something to look forwards too," Remus commented, smiling.

A little while later, the two somehow manage to sneak out of the room and down to the lake, to evade the staff members.

"It's so quiet out here," Hermione said. "Well, at least compared to the staff room."

"I can't believe Dumbledore did that," Severus said. "I _know_ he purposely staged it, so that Hagrid would hear."

"It's alright, Severus," Hermione said. "It made everything a lot easier. And, look on the bright side, the students leave tomorrow morning on the train, and then there's graduation tomorrow night."

"Finally," Severus commented.

"So you know what we really need to do?" Hermione asked, slipping her hand into his.

"What?" He asked, glancing at her.

"Decide on a name," Hermione said. "We can't keep calling the baby 'him' or 'he' any longer - he needs a name."

"We have Trenton and Adrian," Severus said.

"Janie likes Jaden," Hermione mentioned.

"Trenton Adrian Snape…Trenton Jaden…Adrian Jaden…"

"Are you really sure that we can't have _any_ part of your name?" Hermione asked. "How about your middle?"

"You don't know my middle na-"

"Alexander," Hermione stated.

Severus looked at her, "How did you find out? I never told anyone…"

"You told me," Hermione said. "A long time ago…"

"On Christmas Eve," Severus said softly. "You remembered…"

"Of course," Hermione replied.

Severus smirked, "But you can't remember to tell me when your friends are going to pop in?"

"That's so you end up staying, and also because those things escape my mind - _you_ never escape my mind," Hermione said. "So can we use Alexander? As a middle name, at least?"

Severus looked at Hermione's hopeful face, "Aright."

Hermione's eyes widened and she hugged him, "Thank you so much, Severus! Since you agreed to use your middle name, you can choose his first name and I won't say anything about it."

"In _that _case," he said. "Albus Alexander Snape," he said jokingly.

"Oh Merlin, no," Hermione said.

Severus smirked, "That's what I thought. Trenton Alexander Snape," Severus decided.

Hermione smiled, "I like that. Trenton Alexander Snape it is then."

---

Janie and Lyss were currently sitting on the grass, next to the castle, in the shade, where Matt lay asleep a few feet away.

"Hey Janie," Lyss said. "Isn't that your parents?" She asked, pointing at a pair walking around the lake.

Janie nodded, "Yeah." She watched them thoughtfully for a few moments, before adding, "Don't they look cute together?"

Lyss looked at Janie, "Did you just use the word 'cute' in the same sentence as your father?"

"Yeah," Janie said. "They do."

"So anyways," Lyss said, changing the subject. "What are your plans for over the break?"

"Besides hanging out with you guys? My parents are getting married, and I wanted to explore my dad's house some more…And we can't forget about playing Quidditch! Scott already said that he's come over and play-"

"Speaking of Scott…" Lyss started slowly.

"We've been through this, Lyss; there's nothing to 'speak' about," Janie said.

"C'mon, Janie," Lyss pushed. "I mean, I think he likes you."

"As a friend," Janie commented.

"How do you know?" Lyss asked. "You know, I could do some digging for you, if you'd like…"

Janie let out a small laugh, "Why does everybody assume that we're not 'just friends?' We're just friends like me and Matt are."

Lyss raised her eyebrows, "Alright then. When do you want to do something?"  
Janie shrugged, "Are you still brave enough to come over?" She joked.

Lyss glared at Janie, "I was fine the last time."

"My dad doesn't act like Professor Snape at home…well, unless I'm in trouble. Then it's a whole different story. And sometimes, I know it's unbelievable, but I can get him to do stuff for me that you would _never_ believe was possible," Janie said, smiling.

"But whatever the case is, _please_ don't get into any trouble around me," Lyss said.

"He has a habit of popping up whenever I do something that I'm bound to get into trouble for and asks what I'm doing."

"Anythin-"  
"Janie!" Scott exclaimed, running up to her and Lyss, waving two pieces of paper in his hand. "Look what I go-"

"Scott, watch out-" Janie called, trying to stop Scott from falling over Matt, but it was too late. Because Scott was looking at Janie, he completely did not notice Matt on the ground, tripped over him, and did a face plant into the ground.

"Are you alright?" Janie exclaimed, jumping up.

"Yeah," Scott said, looking up from the ground and extending his arm, waving the papers. "Look what I got! Tickets to the semi-final Quidditch game!"

"No way!" Janie exclaimed.

Scott started to get up with help from Janie, "Yeah, and they're excellent seats too!"

"Let me see!" Janie said, and Scott handed her the tickets.

"Woah! How'd you get these?" Janie asked.

"My brother," Scott replied. "Want to go?"

"Really? I can??

Scott nodded.

"Yes!" Janie exclaimed. "When is it?"

Scott looked at the ticket, "July 5th. And with these tickets, if we pick the winning team, we get free tickets to watch them in the next round."

"Don't these tickets go on sale when they know what teams make it?" Janie asked.

"Not when they're advanced – these magically change to put the winning teams that are going to play in the match on them."

"But they're really expensive," Matt said, walking up behind the trio.

"Glad to see that you're finally up," Lyss commented.

"Scott was going to ask you if you wanted to go, but you were sleeping," Lyss said, trying to trick her brother.

"No way," Matt said.

"Yes way," Lyss replied.

Matt looked urgently at Janie, who was shaking her head, "Don't listen to her, Matt."

"Who else is going?" Janie asked Scott.

"Just my brother – my oldest brother; he's the cool one. He gave me two tickets and told me that I could invite whoever I wanted. He told me that it's a late birthday present for me, because he was out of the country for the past three months."

"Janie, do you think your dad will let you go?" Lyss asked.

Janie paused, "Crap. Well, I suppose that all he has to do is threaten your brother, Scott, and then he'll be satisfied."

"He was Head Boy during his seventh year," Scott said. "And a Slytherin prefect, so your dad must have liked him to some extent. Tyler's a lot better than my other brother, Will. But when Tyler was a first and second year, he was a 'true-blooded' Slytherin – in his third year though, he got into a lot of trouble, and I really mean _a lot_. So that summer, my parents, well, more like my mum, sent him to work at my uncle's – he breeds dragons and hippogriffs. When Ty came back, it was like he totally changed. Well, his personality stayed the same, but he really didn't get in to any trouble anymore. My dad was a little upset, because he said that he wasn't 'Slytherin material' anymore, so Will stopped really hanging around with him too, but I didn't.

"As soon as Ty finished school, he moved out and started to work with my uncle – that's why I didn't get to see him…he travels all over. Janie, do you think that it's wrong to like one brother more than another? When we were younger, Ty was my best friend."

---

"You wouldn't mind staying here until graduation is over, would you?" Hermione asked Janie, while Janie was packing up her belongings in her dorm room.

"Not at all; Dumbledore said that I could help the girls up the stairs, so that they won't trip and fall," Janie replied.

"Dumbledore's already talked to you?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Janie said. "He said that if I was going to stay, and I said that I probably was, that instead of doing nothing, I could help people up and down the stairs. Besides, Matt and Lyss' brother, Nick, is graduating, and Lyss is helping on the other side, while Matt's passing out magical programs."

Hermione nodded, "And then we're going to go to the Burrow on Friday, if you want to go."

Janie nodded, "Is Patrick going to be there?"

"I don't know," Hermione said.

"If he is, then I'll go, but if he isn't, I told Lyss and Matt that I'd take them to a movie theater one day," Janie said.

"You have all summer to do that too," Hermione pointed. "There will be plenty of movies coming out over the next few months."

"I know, but there's one coming out Friday that I really I want to see," Janie responded.

"How in the world do you know about what movies are coming out?" Hermione asked.

Janie smiled, "In one of the wizard magazines I have. They review all of the muggle movies coming out; they're starting to grow in popularity now."

"That's fine," Hermione said. "How are you going to get there?"

"Well, since I don't think that you'll let Nick apparate me…."

"Janie, I'm not really supposed to be apparating now."

"I know, I was thinking about dad," Janie said. "Do you think he will?"

Hermione nodded, "Of course he will."

"Are you sure?" Janie asked.

"Yes, because I said he's going to," she said with a smile.

Janie laughed, "He's going to appreciate that."

"Appreciate what?" Severus asked.

"You're dropping Janie off at the movies on Friday," Hermione stated.

"I'm doing _what_?" He asked. "What movies?"

"The ones…" Hermione turned to Janie. "Which movies?"

"The nice ones by your house," Janie replied. "The new one."

"It's a few miles away from the house," Hermione replied.

"She's not going to the Burrow?" Severus asked.

Hermione shook her head, "I don't think so."

"Alright," Severus said.

"Really?" Janie questioned gleefully.

"Yes. Frankly, I don't want to go to the Burrow either."

Janie smiled, "Thanks, Dad. And there's something else too…"

"Do you want them to come over afterwards?" Hermione asked.

"No," Janie said. "It's actually…Scott got two tickets to the semi-final round for the Quidditch World Cup as a late birthday present from his brother, and he asked if I wanted to go. It's on July 5th…I think I'm going to be gone all day if I go."

"You're not going if it's with William Narls," Severus immediately stated.

"No," Janie said. "Tyler's in and wanted to take Scott with a friend…_Please_?" Janie asked, with wide eyes. "I really want to go."

"Janie, I don't even know Tyler," Hermione said.

"But dad does!" She said, turning towards her father. "Tell her Dad; Tyler Narls was a Head Boy! Please?" Janie said, her infamous puppy dog pout already forming on her lips.

"He did change…" Severus said. "And he was the most responsible Slytherin I had in years…"

"And how he works with dragons and hippogriffs, so he's really careful," Janie added, making her father glance at her.

"And this is not just some scheme that you two have cooked up, so that you can escape and go on a date together all day, is it?" Severus asked.

"Dad! We're _not_ dating! It's not a date! You're just like Alyssa. Tyler will be there…Scott already has the tickets too!"

Severus and Hermione looked at their daughter, who now had a very convincing look on her face.

"_Please_?" Janie asked.

Severus sighed, "Fine for now, but we're talking this over with him _before_ you go."

"Yes!" Janie exclaimed, hugging both of her parents.

---

"We're still going to have the summer bash, right?" Ginny asked her mother.

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley replied.

"Charlie won't be able to make it; neither will Fleur, Janie, Patrick, and George. I want all of them here for the summer party."

"Why aren't Janie, Patrick, and George coming?" Ginny questioned.

"Well, Janie made plans before Hermione told her about the dinner. And George is taking Patrick to the doctor.

"So Ginny, how much butterbeer and firewhiskey do we need?" She asked, while washing dishes that had a magic-resistant baking spell put on them.

"Well, Fleur and George won't be here, and I've never really seen Professor Snape drink anything while he's here," Ginny replied, while checking one of her mother's cupboards. "And I know for a fact that Hermione won't drink anything."

"She's stopped now, has she? Good for her."

"She didn't really stop," Ginny said. "She can't."

Mrs. Weasley abruptly turned off the water and wheeled around to face her daughter.

"Is there something that you're not telling me, Ginevra?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Ginny cringed at the use of her first name.

"Noth-" her words froze at the look that her mother was giving her.

"I have _seven_ children-"

"Hermione's pregnant, Mum."

---

As soon as the graduation was over (luckily, no one had fallen and Hermione had to stop Severus from whistling when Damien crossed the stage), the three returned to Severus' manor. The next day, Severus apparated Janie to the movie theater, and he and Hermione traveled to the Burrow shortly afterwards.

"Glad to see you two could make it!" Mrs. Weasley smiled widely, as she greeted them.

"Glad to see you too," Hermione replied. "I've brought some treats," she said, holding up the box that she was holding a little higher.

Severus nodded, as he followed Hermione into the kitchen, as Hermione set the box on the table.

"Dobby couldn't resist sending some sweets home with us; he sent us way too much," Hermione said, starting to take some of the objects out of the box. "So I hope you don't mind us bringing some of them here."

"Not at all," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Hermione, Professor!" Ginny greeted, walking into the kitchen and grabbing Hermione's hand. "Why don't you guys come with me?" She asked, trying to get the two away from her mother, so that she wouldn't say anything to them.

"Um, sure," Hermione replied, looking strangely at Severus.

"You too," Ginny said, and also grabbed Severus' hand.

"Oi, look who's decided to show!" Fred exclaimed, as Ginny pulled the two through the kitchen and passed her brother. "Where are you going?"

"None of your business," Ginny said, and lead the two up to her old room.

"Ginny, what are we doing up here?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I wanted to tell you something, but I didn't want anybody else downstairs to know yet…and I didn't want to leave Professor Snape downstairs by himself with my mother. Besides, I don't ever think that he's seen the upstairs before," Ginny said. "But guess what?" She asked enthusiastically.

"What?" Hermione replied.

"I got a promotion at work!" Ginny exclaimed.

Hermione hugged her friend, "Ginny, that's great! Does Harry know?"

She nodded, "I didn't want to tell my Mum yet. Harry and I are meeting her and my dad on Sunday for lunch, so I thought that I'd tell them then."

"That's great news, Ginny! I'm so happy for you!" Hermione said happily.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Potter," Severus said.

"Thanks, Professor," Ginny replied. "But you know, you _can_ always call me Ginny."

"I don't think so," he replied.

"Why?"

"Old habits die hard," he replied.

---

"Time for dinner!" Mrs. Weasley called, and everybody filed into the kitchen.

"What did you cook, Mum?" Bill asked.

"A little bit of everybody's favorites," Mrs. Weasley replied.

"Awesome!" Fred replied, as Mrs. Weasley started to set food on the table.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bill asked, pointing at a dish.

Mrs. Weasley nodded.

"Mum, you're the best!" Bill exclaimed. "I haven't had this in _months_!"

Molly smiled, "Does that mean that you're finally going to cut your hair now?"

Bill smiled, "Not a chance. Sorry."

His mother rolled her eyes, when they landed on Hermione. She turned around and walked back into the kitchen, and returned with a bowl of food.

"Here, Hermione, I made this just for you," Mrs. Weasley said, and started to spoon a lot onto her plate. "And don't forget the bread!" She added, and placed a couple of biscuits on her plate.

Severus leaned over to whisper in Hermione's ear, "Hermione, I think she knows."

Hermione's eyes widened, before she discreetly waved him off, "How?" She whispered back. "I used the box so she didn't hug me and Ginny took me out of the room."

"Jeez, Mum," Bill said. "Hermione can get her own food."

"Oh, I know," Mrs. Weasley replied, and then returned to the kitchen. "And I know Severus likes this," she said, and started to put some down on Hermione's plate, before she set it down next to Severus.

Hermione glanced around the table, to find Ginny glancing at her plate. Her eyes widened and she thought to Severus, "_Ginny_!"

"Really, M-"

"And pumpkin juice-"

"Mum, really," Bill said, pointing his fork at her. "Leave Hermione alone. It's not like she's eating for two or anything."

_Oh no_, Hermione thought.

Mrs. Weasley smiled, "She is."

Bill nearly dropped his fork, "What?"

"Hermione's eating for two now," Mrs. Weasley announced.

"Hermione's pregnant?" Fred asked in mock surprise, making Hermione glare at him.

"Oh, you knew!" Ginny said, pointing an accusatory finger at her brother.

"You knew too?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Ginny nodded, while Harry and Ron slowly started to edge towards the door.

"Why didn't anybody tell me?" Molly asked.

"Ron knew too," Fred defended.

Ron tried to put a pure look of innocence on his face.

"And Harry," Fred added.

"Fred!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Stop trying to defend your husband!" The lonely twin said. "And George and I only found out, because of the betting board. Harry, Ron, and Ginny already knew."

Mrs. Weasley pinched the bridge of her nose, while the rest of the table watched the ping pong match.

"No matter," she said, and waved everybody else off, before walking over to Hermione and hugging her.

"Congratulations, dear! This is such wonderful news! And Severus!" She exclaimed, turning to hug him. "How long?"

"About four months," Hermione said.

"Do you know what you're having yet?"

Hermione nodded, "A boy-"

"How exciting!" Mr. Weasley said joyfully, walking up behind the group, and then shook Severus' hand.

"Any names yet?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Trenton," Severus replied.

"How adorable!" She exclaimed. "Now, you two must tell us everything."

"Not _every_thing," Fred exclaimed, covering his ears. "Please, leave out the details! I'm begging you! I don't have George here to keep me sane!"

**A/N: Thanks again to everyone who has read and reviewed this far; it is really appreciated! Up next: Hermione and Severus' wedding, the Quidditch match, and hopefully, the return to Hogwarts. And if anyone is wondering, Ravenclaw won the house cup (Damien cost Gryffinfor way too many points at the ending and knocked them out of the top spot) and Gryffindor won the Quidditch house cup. I didn't really get a chance to put that into the story. And I have also made a few updates on the website. Thanks again and I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!**


	31. Summer

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Harry Potter**_**, nor am I making any money off of this. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

**A/N: So I owe a HUGE apology to everybody for the extremely long delay. The last part of my senior year was really hectic: Senior projects, I got a job, went to Nationals for Rube Goldberg, band, writer's block, college, prom, graduation, and I performed down in Austin and San Antonio, Texas with our school's band last month. So I am really sorry, but I'm back now. **

--

"Hermione, wake up," Ginny called, knocking at her door.

Hermione lazily opened her eyes and looked next to her; instead of finding Severus, she found a beautiful red rose and a slip of parchment.

Smiling, she picked up the note and read it, _I will see you later_.

Her smile widened even farther when she picked up the rose and smelled it.

"Rise and shine!" Ginny exclaimed outside of her door. "I hope you're decent, because I'm coming in!" She said and entered the room. "Good, you're up!" Ginny greeted, as she walked into Hermione's room and saw the dreamy look on her face.

"Good morning," Hermione replied.

"Did Snape give you that?" She asked.

Hermione nodded. "He sure did."  
Ginny gave a small laugh, "You didn't even walk down the isle yet, and you already have a dreamy look on your face – it's like you're going to marry that flower."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"So, are you ready?"

Hermione finally looked up at Ginny, "If you mean by being nervous, then yes."

Ginny laughed, "I was so afraid that I was going to fall on my way down the isle. Even though I had charms on my heels, I still felt like something was going to go wrong – like I would twist my ankle or somehow crack off my heel."

Hermione gave a small chuckle, "Not even tripping over your dress?"

"All I worried about was if I was going to do a face plant on my way down the isle. Well, anyways, let's go; roll out of bed-"

"Uh!" Hermione glared at her. "I do not need to 'roll out of bed-'"

"Not yet you won't," Ginny smirked, and Hermione threw a pillow at her.

"Not funny!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ginny laughed.

"Let's get down to business – I want to see Snape's jaw hit the floor when he sees you."

--

"So why did you two decide to have a sunset wedding? If I must say, I wouldn't have really pegged you for that type," Remus commented.

"Hermione loves sunsets," Severus replied. "Especially on the beach…it's her dream wedding."  
"How long did it take to secure the perimeter?" Remus asked.

"It would have taken five hours, but with Dumbledore helping, it only took around two. No one will know we're here, besides those who said that they are coming."

"Are the Creevey brothers doing the photography?"

"Yes – they've dramatically increased their security at their shop; it's unbelievably tight," Severus informed Remus. "And if they're afraid of anything, I've offered them the labs at Hogwarts to use."

"Did Dumbledore have anything to do with that?" Remus inquired.

Severus shook his head, "He doesn't know yet that I offered it for their use."

"The pictures will be really good," Remus added.

Severus stared out the window at the ocean, "I hope so."

--

"I'm hungry," Hermione announced, as Ginny was fumbling around in her bag for a hair piece.

Ginny glanced up, "Are you sure you want to eat now?"

Hermione thought about it for a minute, before her stomach grumbled again, "Yes."

Ginny pulled out the hair piece and set it down next to her, "What do you want to eat?"

Hermione shrugged, "I don't know…I have a taste for chocolate – and marshmallows."

The younger witch's eyes widened, "Oh no…"

Hermione looked at her in confusion, "What?"

"Your cravings…they're back! Next thing I know, you're going to want to eat pickles and cheese again-"

"Oh, Merlin no!" Hermione exclaimed, looking disgusted. "Just the thought of that combination now is enough to make me sick! Wait, I know…let's get some chocolate syrup, marshmallows, and custard."

"Woah!" Ginny exclaimed, holding her hands up.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"I do _not_ need to know what you do to Snape behind closed doors."

Hermione's eyes widened to the size of galleons, "_Ginny_!"

"So, uh…I'll just order it now. I'm sure the house elves can whip it up in no problem at all," Ginny said, as Hermione started to get up. "Do you want it all mixed together? Probably not…I'll just have them send it all up on a tray or something…" Ginny continued, trying to busy herself. "On second thought, I'm just going to go downstairs and get it – I'm hungry too," Ginny decided, and left the room, leaving a very amused-looking Hermione behind.

--

Quickly, it seemed that time just seemed to slip away. Before anybody knew it, everybody was walking around in their wedding attire and trying to tie up any loose ends. Janie and Patrick were busy running up and down the corridors of the hotel, hopping from room-to-room. The two were finally forced to stop when Patrick wasn't looking where he was going, and Mrs. Weasley opened a door right in front of him, making the poor boy run right into it.

After the incident, Patrick was put back into his room by his grandmother, and Janie returned to help her mother prepare for the wedding. Shortly enough, people started to arrive for the wedding and take their seats.

Luckily, it was a gorgeous day on the beach; the weather was beautiful and the waves were perfect. As soon as the sun was about to set, the wedding started.

--

Ginny watched from the procession, as Janie bounced down the isle, spreading flower pedals in her wake. Ginny smiled at her and then looked to the front of the room, where Snape, Remus, Ron, and Harry were standing. Frankly, she was shocked that Ron was chosen to be a groomsman. She knew that Remus was Snape's best man, and that Harry would be involved somehow, but not Ron; Hermione must have had some say in it. Or, Snape just decided to give Hermione one of the greatest shocks in her life – Ginny would believe either one.

After Ginny took her turn walking down the isle, she turned around and her smile grew even larger when she saw Hermione. Immediately, she glanced at Snape and had to hide a snort; Snape's jaw started to lower, but he caught himself and snapped it closed again.

_I hope Colin gets a picture of him_, Ginny thought to herself. _Snape would never believe that his eyes ever out-shined Dumbledore's_.

After Hermione's father had left her, she turned towards Severus and was greeted by a smile from him. Things seemed to go quickly from there. Just as in Harry and Ginny's wedding, when the vows were exchanged a band of blue shot from Dumbledore's wand and wrapped its way up both Hermione and Severus' hands, disappearing at their wrists. The only difference was that after the vows were exchanged, Janie was brought up to the front and after Dumbledore muttered an incantation, the three's joined hands were encased in a purple jet of light. Afterwards, Janie took her spot again near Ginny, and the final white jet of light was released from Dumbledore's wand. After they were pronounced man and wife, Severus and Hermione kissed and shared their first steps together.

--

After the procession had ended, Colin and his brother once again finished up with taking their portrait pictures of everyone in the wedding. While the two brothers were busying themselves, Charlie was talking to his mother off to the side of the room.

"I still don't believe that Hermione is pregnant," Charlie whispered to his mother.

"Charlie," Mrs. Weasley hissed, "that's not very nice!"

"No Mum, I meant that not only do I still not believe it…mostly due to Fred and George's stupid bet, but she doesn't really seem to be…"

"That's because of her dress – if there is any visible baby bump yet, the dress won't show it. I'm sure if you were to hug her, you'd know," she replied.

"She looks really happy," Charlie observed.

"The happiest I've ever seen her," Molly stated. "Now let's go; everybody is starting to head over to the reception."

--

The reception went beautifully. Severus and Hermione shared their first dance as husband and wife together on the warm sand, under a breathtaking starry sky.

The 'dance floor' was on the sand, with many tiki torches surrounding the area. Around the dance floor, many tables and chairs littered the area, as well as a bamboo-styled tropical bar supplied the drinks and food. Each table had an assortment of small candles, while colored lanterns floated above the table. All of this was situated near the gently lapsing water, which reflected the night sky.

As proved by Patrick, the water was also quite warm; bored with dancing, he decided to jump right into the ocean. Suddenly, the dance 'floor' became the place for adults, while the water soon became littered with the young witches and wizards in attendance. At first, Mrs. Weasley nearly had a heart attack, because Patrick jumped right in fully clothed, and Michael jumped in right after him. After a long debate, Mrs. Weasley finally gave up and let her grandchildren stay in the water, with their newly transfigured suits.

After the wedding was finally over, Janie left with Harry and Ginny to spend a few days at their house, while her parents went on a trip to Rome.

**--**

A week after her parents returned and much to Janie's delight, the Quidditch match that Scott invited her too had finally come. And even more to her delight, both of her parents had agreed to let her go and Ireland, one of her favorite teams was playing.

"So Scott," his brother said, as they were walking up the path to Janie's house. "I'm shocked that you didn't ask one of your guy friends to go."

"I don't really talk to all of them anymore. Besides, Janie made the Quidditch team as a first year. None of my other friends managed to do that."

"What position does she play?"

"Seeker," Scott replied. "And she's really good at it too."

"Complementing someone outside of your own house…I never thought that I would hear you say something like that."

Scott smiled, "Just don't tell dad."

"As if I would," Tyler replied. "If I ever talk to him again, it would be too soon. So…this girl friend of yours-"

"Janie."

"Is Janie someone you happen to like?"

"No, what would give you an idea like that?" Scott asked, not looking at his brother.

Tyler shrugged, "Because you worried about which Ireland jersey you were going to wear."

Scott remained silent.

"Well…" Tyler asked. "Do you?" He teased.

Scott glared at him.

"Ah-ha!"

"Not so loud! She might hear you!" Scott exclaimed, as they stopped outside of the front door.

Tyler smiled, "So you do."

"Shut up," Scott replied, as he crossed his arms and his older brother knocked on the door.

"Hello!" Janie exclaimed, when she opened the door and saw who was standing on the other side.

"Hey Janie. Ready to go?" He asked, when a figure appeared behind her. "Hello Professor."

Severus nodded, "Mr. Narls."

"Professor," Tyler greeted and stuck out his hand.

After Severus shook the younger man's hand, he turned to Janie, "Why don't you and Mr. Narls let his brother and I talk for a quick moment?"

Janie nodded and led Scott down on the path from her front door.

"You know," Scott started. "I never pictured Professor Snape living somewhere like here…I just always thought that he lived at school."

Janie gave a small laugh, "Nope; he lives here."

"It's huge," Scott said, looking out at a grassy field. "It's a perfect Quidditch pitch! Have you played on it yet?"

Janie smiled, "Yep! After my uncles came over and started a game last week, my mum couldn't watch and went back inside. It was pretty funny…after Harry just missed hitting a tree to escape a bludger, she covered her eyes and started to walk back inside – only she ran right into one of the goal posts."

Scott laughed, "What did your dad say?"

"He tried to stop her, but my mum wouldn't listen to him," Janie replied. "The last time that she listened to him, he made her fall into the lake-"

"Lake? You have a _lake_?" Scott interrupted.

"Well, it's more like a gigantic pond…my dad didn't tell my mum or I about it, until after we returned for summer break. That's when he finished showing us the outside of his house – he said that if he had told my mum that there was any type of water on the property, she would have made him go ice skating. She wasn't too pleased, especially when he showed her that he actually has like a ballroom type room."

"It doesn't seem like your mum would be the type to flip out about a ballroom," Scott remarked.

Janie laughed, "She was really peeved that she didn't know, because she would have thrown a party."

'Professor Snape's not a big fan of parties then?"

"Not really," Janie replied. "He only goes to them now, because my mum or I go."

Scott was about to reply, when his brother walked up behind them.

"Ready to go? There's a portkey about a mile from here that we need to go to," Tyler said.

The two nodded.

"Alright, then let's go! And Janie, I talked it over with your dad and everything's cool."

"Awesome," Janie said, as they started their mile trek to their portkey.

--

According to the three of them, the match went great. Everything that Scott or Janie wanted, Tyler bought it for them, which made the two of them feel a little weird. Sometimes during the game, Tyler would leave and bring back an armful of snack for them to eat and souvenirs. His excuse for doing everything was that he hadn't been able to spoil anybody in a long time and that he loved seeing his younger brother so happy.

They had excellent seats for the game – the players even flew so close to them at times, they had to hold down their hats because of the wind. In an amazing display, Ireland won the game, sending a good portion of the stands in an absolute uproar. Ecstatic with their win, Ireland players flew all around the stands and high-fived anybody that had anything Ireland on.

"That was awesome!" Janie exclaimed, as they were walking out of the Quidditch stadium.

"And they won!" Scott added. "We get to come again on Friday!" Scott said, and high-fived Janie. "I can't believe it!"

"I can come again?" Janie asked.

"Of course you can!" Scott replied. "Why wouldn't you be able to? You'd be able to go, right?"

"Yeah," Janie said. "There's no school and I don't think my parents would have a problem with it."

"But I can't believe they won!" Scott said happily.

His brother knocked him. "Of course they were going to win! They're really good this year! And I'm hungry-"

"That was unexpected," Scott commented.

"Well I am," Tyler said. "Are you guys hungry?"

Janie and Scott agreed.

"Great, I know a great place that we can go out to eat at."

--

"Three in a row!" Matt exclaimed. "Ireland has won three in a _row_."

Lyss crinkled her nose, "And that matters because?"

"Because they haven't done this well in _years_! Five years, Lyss! And they're excellent games too!"

"You're just upset, because Scott invited Janie and not you," Lyss said.

"No I'm not," Matt replied.

--

"Ireland wins again!" Lyss exclaimed, running throughout the room.

Matt groaned, "Four in a row."

"Lighten up, Matt!" Lyss said. "And stop being so jealous, because you can't go."

"I'm not jealous because I can't go," Matt said, clearly sounding irritated.

"Wait a second! 'Because you can't go'…so that means that you _are_ jealous!"

Matt ignored her, "I can get tickets if I wanted them; dad would buy them for me."

"But you haven't asked," Lyss stated.

"Of course not," Matt said. "If they make it to the World Cup, then I'll ask."

Lyss rolled her eyes.

"And we haven't even really played Quidditch that much!" Matt said. "All Janie's been doing is going to those matches with Scott. We only got to play seven times."

Lyss looked at her brother, "You're lucky it was that much! You almost killed me that one time! You're lucky I wanted to play again."

"If you were paying attention, you wouldn't have fallen into the lake, and you didn't almost die," Matt countered.

"Whatever. And we went swimming over there and Janie came over here a lot," Lyss said.

"But she doesn't anymore! She's too busy hanging around with him…it's like he's stealing our friend."

"Matt!" Lyss exclaimed. "They're both our friends. They didn't know that Ireland was going to win so many times! Besides, Janie told me that she was going to owl  
me as soon as she got home tonight and set something up so that we could see each other again!"

"When she'd owl you? She didn't owl me!"

Lyss looked guilty, "Well, ehr…it was addressed to both of us, but I um…forgot to tell you."

Matt glared at her.

"You know," Lyss poked. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that you like Janie."

Matt's eyes widened, "I do not…only as a friend."

"Then why are you so mad that Scott and Janie are going to the Quidditch matches together?"

"Because it's like I said, he's stealing her!"

"Cut it out, no he's not," Lyss said.

"Yes-"

"If he was trying to _steal_ her, then why would Scott's brother, Tyler, be there with them? Why would Janie still owl us?"

"He's a Slytherin, Lyss! They're sneaky and mani-"

"Matthew! Scott's your friend! Cut it out already!"

Crinkling up his face, Matt shot his sister one last look, before exiting from the room.

--

The next day after lunch, Lyss ran to the door when she heard a knock. Looking out the peep hole in her door, she smiled.

"Janie!" She exclaimed, as soon as she opened the door.

Janie smiled back, "What are you doing?"

Janie shrugged, "I thought that this was better."

Lyss opened the door, "It sure is!"

Janie laughed. "Do you want to come over? It's a beautiful day out."

"Sure!" Lyss said, and then dragged Janie into a secluded corner after she shut the door.

"Matt is going to be glad."

Janie looked confused, "Why?"

"He's been acting strange lately. He kept going on last night on how we never see you anymore and how we never get to play Quidditch, because you're too busy going to the games with Scott."

Janie looked shocked, "That's not true! I've only been to four…and it's only been like two weeks. My dad's been secretly taking me back to his quarters to teach me how to do a patronus, so that I can use my wand at Hogwarts. Where is Matt, anyways?"

"He's been practicing Quidditch week long," Lyss replied.

"Really?"

"I think that he's going to try out for the Quidditch team next year," Lyss said, as she led Janie out into their backyard. "He keeps timing himself between three set points-"

"The goal posts," Janie supplied.

"Yeah…he's going out for Oliver Wood's position…and Nick's," Lyss said. "When Nick's home, he helps him out."

"Keeper?" Janie asked. "That'd be so cool if he made the team! It'd be so nice to have a real friend on there. All the other kids are three years older than me," Janie said.

"No! Then I'll be the only one left!" Lyss exclaimed.

Janie raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, you'll be the Gryffindor seeker and if Matt makes it, he'll be the keeper. And then Scott wants to be a chaser on the Slytherin team; he talks about it everytime we play Quidditch at your house," Lyss said, realizing something, as they found Matt.

"Matt!" Lyss called.

"Go away, I'm busy!"

"Matt, someone is here for you," she yelled.

"I told you," he said, but looked this time and saw Janie.

"Watch out!" Janie and Lyss called, when they saw him headed for a tree.

By the time Matt tried to pull up on his broom, it was too late. He flew right into the tree and after a few cracks, hit the ground.

"Are you alright?" Janie asked, stopped to help him up.

"Yeah," Matt groaned. "The tree broke my fall."

"Your broom is still up there," Lyss pointed out.

"Thanks," he replied sarcastically, getting up and looking up in the tree. "I'll have Nick get it later. What are we doing?"

"I wanted to see if you two wanted to come over, because it's such a nice day out and we could go swimming," Janie replied.

"That sounds awesome," Matt replied.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Janie asked happily.

"Umm, you go ahead, Janie; we're right behind you," Lyss said, and then stopped Matt with her hand, when he went to follow.

"Going to be a keeper just like Nick, huh?" Lyss said.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Liar," Lyss stated.

"Because Janie's on the team-"

"No-"

"You know that Scott will be chaser next year, and with you as keeper, you can show him up and stuff his shots in his face."

Matt tore away from his sister's grasp. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think you do," Lyss said.

"No, I don't," Matt said, and started to jog to catch up with Janie.

"Oh yeah!" She yelled, making the two stop.

"What now?" Matt asked.

"You have to see what I got Janie!" Lyss exclaimed and ran through the back door.

"What'd she get?" She asked Matt, as they walked through the back door.

Matt groaned, "You'll see."

"Janie! Janie!" Lyss exclaimed a minute later, waiving a letter in her hand.

"What is it?" Janie asked.

"Look what I got in the mail today!" Lyss bubbled with excitement.

Janie raised an eyebrow, "A letter?"

"From Logan!"

"He wrote to you?" Janie asked.

"Well, after I wrote him," Lyss said and then handed the letter to Janie.

Janie casually opened the letter and read it:

_Hi Lyss,  
Summer's going well so far…lots of Quidditch playing and stuff. How's your summer going? _

_-Logan_

"You know what we should do?" Lyss said, as Janie gave her the letter back. "Invite him over one day to play Quidditch!"  
Janie laughed, "I don't think that inviting him over will go too well with your brother."

"Oh, he'll get over it," Lyss said. "Besides, if you invite Scott over, he'd be too busy to care about Logan."

Janie looked confused for a second. "No, I still think that Matt would be too obsessed with trying to keep you away from Logan."

Lyss went to open her mouth, but when she realized what she was about to say, she quickly stopped herself. "Yeah, you're probably right…unless they're playing Quidditch."

"Want to get your stuff together to go swimming?"

"It's already all together," Lyss replied, pointing to a bag near the door. "It's been all ready. My mum washed my stuff, dried it, and then I stuffed it back in the bag and left it on the chair. Matt still has to get ready though."

"I know," he replied, walking up the stairs to go to his room.

"We should invite Logan over to swim one day too!"

Janie laughed. "You honestly think he'll go to Professor Snape's house?"

Lyss shrugged. "Anything is possible," she said, as Matt came back down the stairs.

"All ready?"

"Wait a second…MUM!" Lyss yelled. "MUM!"

"What honey?" A voice called from the other room.

"Matt and I are going to Janie's, alright?"

"Who's?"

"Janie's!"

"Oh," she voiced, walking into the room. "Is that alright, Janie?"

Janie nodded, "Of course."

"Alright then. Flooing over, I presume?"

The three nodded.

"Be careful! And don't stay out too late!"

"Thank, Mum!" Lyss said and the three ran over to the fireplace.

--

"Severus, are doing what I think you're doing?" Hermione asked from the corridor a little while later.

"Depends on what you're thinking," he replied.

"Are you spying on Janie again?" She asked.

"I wouldn't exactly call it spying," Severus said, as Hermione walked into the spare room.

"You are! You're spying on her again! I thought I told you to-"

"I'm observing, not spying."

"You are definitely spying," Hermione said. "You're standing in the shadow of the window; the window that overlooks exactly where she is at."

"Hermione," Severus started. "She's outside with a boy, without any adults."

"Lyss is out there too-"

"Let me repeat myself: 'She's outside with a boy.'"

Hermione smacked him, "Get away from the window, Severus. Besides, I think that she might like Scott…that's when you have to watch."

Severus rapidly turned around to face her, "And you let her go to all of those Quidditch games?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "She's twelve years old for Merlin's sake. You can start to worry in a few years."

Severus glared at her.

"Now let's go, before I have to charm the window on you," Hermione said and left the room.

--

"I can't believe your parents let you have a Quidditch match at your house," Matt said, as he followed Janie out of her house. "The next one is going to be Saturday, right?"

Janie nodded. "Neither can I. But I think that's only because my Uncle Harry was there to persuade my mum. She only really agreed, because he said that he'd be here. It's more like a giant picnic, I guess. I think that's how Harry explained it to her. On the other hand, we look at it like a Quidditch game…even my dad."

Lyss' eyes widened, "Is he going to play?"

"I don't think so," Janie replied. "He had to referee a game before when Fred and George came over to play though. I dunno what he's going to do on Saturday."

"We're going to have full teams, right?" Matt asked.

Janie nodded, "Yeah. I think we have me, you, Lyss, Scott, Michael, and Logan from school, if he comes (Shortly after Janie told them about the planned match on Saturday, Lyss immediately asked if she could invite Logan to come over too.). Then we have my uncles Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Bill, and then Ginny. Katie might also play, but I'm not too sure…oh! And Angelina! That makes fourteen."

"Who's going to play on whose team?" Lyss asked.

Janie shrugged, "It'd be fun if we had all of the kids on one team with my uncle Harry, but everybody else would say that it would be unfair. We could try to send Michael over there and then take either Fred or George; they'd have a heart attack."

"I want to be on your team, Janie," Lyss said. "And that means that Logan has to be on our team too. So with that, we'd have a seeker, three chasers, and a keeper. What would Harry play?"

"He can play anything…Oliver Wood once told him that he'd make a fair beater; I know that he's been anxious to play that position more," Janie replied, and Lyss nearly fell over.

"He knows Oliver Wood?" She nearly shrieked.

Janie looked at Lyss strangely, "Yeah; they both played Quidditch together. Oliver was the Gryffindor team Captain-"

"Did you ever meet him?"

"Yes-"

"And you never told me!?" Lyss exclaimed.

Matt rolled his eyes, "She's like this everyday."

"And don't get me started on how _you're_ like everyday, Matthew," Lyss countered.

"And I have to listen to this everyday," Janie mumbled.

Matt looked at her, "What?"

Janie looked innocent, "What? I didn't say anything."

"Yes you did. You said that you have to listen to us everyday too. I haven't seen you in a week!" Matt said, crossing his arms.

Lyss looked alarmed, "Janie..."

"Well, err…Lyss sends me letters everyday-"

"Janie!"

"I've got a drawer full," Janie added. "She sure likes to talk about you a lot."

Matt turned towards his sister, "What do you say about me?"

Lyss glared at her brother, "If you didn't argue with me, then there'd be nothing in those letters about you."

Matt's mouth opened in shock. "You start it half of the time!"

"I do not! If you weren't so darn moody lately! If you're not practicing Quidditch, you're slumming around the house acting all moody."

Matt looked appalled, "I do not!"

"Or you're always complaining-"

"I do not!" Matt exclaimed.

This time, it was Janie's turn to roll her eyes. After listening for a few more moments, she decided to walk away and climb a nearby tree. It took the twins a few minutes to realize that Janie was no longer standing by them. In fact, when they looked around, they couldn't see her anywhere.

"Great," Lyss said, "thanks a lot, Matt. Now Janie's gone, because she's sick of us fighting."

"Are you two done bickering yet?" Janie called.

Lyss whirled around, "Janie, where are you?"

"In a tree."

"'In a tree?' Which tree?" Lyss asked, while Matt went to one of the trees behind them and looked up.

"She's right here, Lyss," Matt said, and then Janie climbed a few branches lower and jumped out of the tree.

"So you're done arguing now?" Janie asked.

Matt nodded, "We'll zip our lips now."

"You know what?" She asked. "Why don't we go swimming? It's getting hot out and that way, you two won't get into anymore fights."

So far, that was the only idea that the two could agree on.

--

"Last one to the water has to jump in first," Janie said, and she took off down the yard.

"No!" Lyss called. "Last time it was cold!"

"Then run!" Matt said, running past his sister.

"My sandals are falling off!" Lyss whined. "This is no fair…restart!"

"No way," Matt said.

"Kick them off!" Janie called.

"C'mon guys!"

Janie laughed, while Matt decided to jump over several rocks, which lead him right in front of Janie.

"Hey!" Janie called.

Matt smirked. "What?" He asked, as he hit the pier first. "Looks like you're last again!" Matt said to his sister.

"I hate you guys!" Lyss exclaimed, as she ran right onto the pier and straight into the water.

"Is it cold?" Janie called, as soon as Lyss' head hit the surface.

"It's great," she replied. "See?" She asked, and splashed the two with water.

"Ah!" Janie exclaimed. "No splashing!" She shouted and jumped into the water, Matt following right behind her.

"Janie."

Janie looked up to see her father standing with his arms crossed.

"Hi Dad," she replied.

"Your mother wants to know if you put any sun block on."

Janie thought for a second, "No."

"Get out so you can put some on," Severus said.

Janie turned around to float around on her back, "But I don't want to."

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I want to get tanned; I won't get burned," Janie replied simply.

"You're not going to get tanned," Severus stated. "You're going to fry."

"No I won't," Janie said.

"Yes, you will. I burn and I bet that you will to."

Janie stopped floating to look at her father, "It's alright. I've done it before."

"Janie, get out and put sun block on-"

"I'll be fine."

"Janie-"

"Really, Dad."

"Fine," Severus said. "But if you get sunburn, you're on your own. You can probably expect your mother out here to yell at you."

**Three hours later…**

"Ow," Janie said, as she limped out of the water.

"Ow is right," Matt replied.

"Look who's laughing now," Lyss smirked. "I'm not burned at all."

"Shut up, Lyss," Matt growled.

"Your mum is going to be so mad at you," Lyss stated.

"Not if she doesn't know," Janie said. "I'm going to hide it as long as I can."

"How?" Lyss asked.

"First, we sneak into the house. Then, I put a shirt on over the sunburn and act like nothing is amiss," Janie said.

"Your face is red."

"I can just say that I didn't put any on my face," Janie shrugged.

"And what about you?" Lyss asked, pointing at her brother.

"The same," he replied simply.

Much to Janie's happiness, she was able to sneak past where her mother was sitting and the three quickly made their way straight up the stairs. Little did they know that Severus had been watching them the entire time from a secluded spot in the shade. If Janie thought that her parents would let her swim unattended the entire time, she was crazy.

--

"So," Hermione started, walking up behind Janie and Matt with a pitcher of lemonade. "How's the water?"

"Great," Janie replied.

"Not as cold as it was before?" Hermione asked, while pointing between Janie and Matt's shoulders, so only Lyss would see. Lyss smirked and nodded, so it looked like she was answering Hermione's question.

"Lemonade?"

"Sure," the three chorused.

As Hermione bent down to pour Matt a glass of lemonade, she casually rested her hand on Janie's shoulder, making her eyes pop wide. As she took her hand off of her daughter, Janie visibly winced in pain. After she finished pouring the lemonade, Hermione disappeared back into the kitchen and brought out a plate of sweets.

_Please don't touch me again, please don't touch me again_, Janie thought throughout the entire time her mother was in the room. _Thank Merlin_, she mentally sighed when she left the room.

"Ugh," Janie said, as soon as her mother was out of earshot. "I bet she left a hand print."

Lyss laughed.

"I was so worried she was going to touch me," Matt said. "I feel sorry for you Janie."

"Now why would you feel sorry for her?" Severus asked, as he entered the room, stopping to stand behind Janie.

"Hello Professor," Lyss said, while Janie and Matt stiffened like boards.

"How's the sunburn treating you?" He asked, putting a hand on each of Janie and Matt's shoulders. "Did you put any sun block on?"

Janie gasped, "Dad! Hands off!"

He raised his infamous eyebrow, "So you didn't put any on?" He asked.

"No I didn't," Janie said.

"I didn't either, sir," Matt said, hoping to evade some trouble.

"Ah, so neither of you two did," he said, and gave their shoulders a light squeeze, before removing his hands. "Have fun," he said, as he left the room.

"Oh Merlin, _that hurt_!" Janie gasped. "If he ever gets sunburn, I'm going to do the _exact_ same thing to him. Let's see how he likes it."

"Ow," Matt said, gingerly lifting the sleeve of his shirt up to examine his sunburn.

"Mum's going to kill you," Lyss said.

"That's if she finds out," Matt replied.

"Oh!" Janie said, when a thought popped into her head. "My mum has burn salve!" She exclaimed and ran off to retrieve it, but found the shelf empty. Running back down the stairs, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her mother reading a book with the salve sitting next to her.

"She's a step ahead of us," Janie announced, walking back into the room. "She's guarding the salve. Do you two just want to go into the room and shut the door so that it gets super cold and we can watch a movie?"

Matt's eyes widened, "That sounds so good right now."

Janie laughed.

--

The next morning, Janie heard Matt yelling from her fireplace.

"Janie!"

Janie ran into the room that was designated as her "floo room.'

"What's wrong?" Janie asked when she heard a wail come from behind him.

"Help…me!" He begged.

Janie looked confused. "Is Lyss alright?"

"Have you seen this week's _Quidditch Weekly_?"

"No…" Janie trailed off, and picked it up off of the table behind her.

"Uh oh," Janie said when she saw the cover, and another wailed exclamation was heard from behind Matt.

"_Quidditch's number one bachelor has finally married_!_ Oliver Wood married long time friend and classmate Alicia Spinnet in a private wedding on Saturday_."

"Oh! So that's where my uncles were on Saturday," Janie thought out loud.

"_How could he_!?" Lyss cried in the background.

"Can I come through?" Matt asked.

"Sure," Janie replied.

Matt practically ran through and sat on one of the couches in the room.

Janie was shocked when her parents had given her the room that she and Matt were currently sitting in. They quickly grew tired of her always using the fireplace in the living room as a "social tool." To solve the problem, Severus cleared out one of the rooms on the first floor, gave her furniture, and set up the floo so that it could only receive and send calls/transport to certain places in Hogwarts, family, and friends. He even volunteered to help Janie arrange the furniture the way she wanted it. What shocked her the most was when her parents brought back the whole entertainment center from their old house and actually got it to work in the room. The only downfall was that wands did not work in the room, because it would disrupt the magical energy powering the television and the movie player.

In the middle of the room there were two sofas set up in an "L" shape, with a table in front of it, while in the corner sat a few over-sized bean bag chairs. In front of the two sofas was the entertainment center, while right next to the door was the Janie's mail table; where all of her mail was charmed to go once it was delivered at the house.

"Want to watch a movie?" Matt asked.

"Sure," Janie replied. "What about Lyss?"

"She'll find her way over here once she's calmed down."

--

Nearly two weeks later, Janie was helping her father brew several potions in his lab, while Hermione was out for the morning with Ginny. During their time, an unexpected visitor showed up at their door and when Hermione got home, Janie couldn't wait to tell her about it. "Guess who came over while Dad and I were brewing a potion, Mum," Janie said.

Hermione smiled, "Who?"

"Uncle Draco!" Janie said, and immediately, Hermione's face fell.

"Oh, before I forget; there's a letter for you in the kitchen," Hermione said and Janie raced out to get it.

"Uncle Draco? Since when is he an uncle?" Hermione asked, as soon as Janie was gone.

"Well, I thought it would be a nice gesture," Severus said. "I mean, you let Potter and Weasley be her uncles."

"They're like my brothers," Hermione replied.

"Fred and George," Severus pointed out.

Hermione glared at him, "Cousins."

"And for a while, I watched over Draco like a son."

Hermione held Severus' gaze for a while.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt. He did do all of that to help us out," she sighed.

"Then you won't be opposed for having dinner with Draco this evening?"

"No-"

"He has expressed interest in getting to know Janie better. And as I can see, Janie likes Draco," Severus said.

"Oh! I forgot!" Janie called, running into the room with an unopened envelope. "Uncle Draco said that maybe he can take me out for a day," she said happily, and then ran out of the room again.

Hermione immediately turned to stare at Severus.

"That's why we're having dinner with him," Severus said. "Afterwards, we will see how everything will go. Trust me, Janie's not going anywhere with Draco until I can talk with him."

--

"We're going here?" Hermione asked, once Severus stopped in front of T.M.F.M.

Severus nodded. "It's the best place to go; going out for dinner means that everyone will be less likely to blow up. And if someone does, then it'll be too busy in here for the whole place to notice."

When they entered the establishment, Draco was already waiting for them next to the seat hostess' stand.

"Uncle Draco!" Janie exclaimed and ran up to give him a hug.

"Good evening Severus; Hermione," Draco said, before returning his attention to Janie. "Hello, little lady!" Draco said, making Hermione's jaw hit the floor.

"Severus," Hermione whispered in his ear. "What is _wrong_ with him?"

"Our table is just this way," Draco said, and then bent down a little to offer Janie his arm. "May I?"

Janie laughed, "Of course."

"I'm serious, Severus. Did he hit his head or anything?"

"I told you he was serious about this," Severus replied.

--

"So Draco," Severus started, after they had ordered their drinks and appetizers. "How are you?"

Draco smiled, "Terrific. I'm getting married in February."

Severus almost chocked on his drink, "To whom?"

"Her name is Elizabeth and she's a nice girl that I met through work," he replied.

"How long have you known her?"

"Two years – we've been dating for a year and a half. My mother is thrilled, to say the least. After everything that has happened, she's extremely joyful for something fun to happen. Enough about me now; how about you? How's the baby doing?"

"Fine," Severus replied. "Everything's running smoothly."

"It's a boy, right?" Draco asked.

Hermione nodded.

"Have you come up with a name yet?"

"Trenton Alexander," Severus said.

"No Severus?" Draco joked, earning a scowl him.

"No," Severus said.

"Because he didn't want it," Hermione replied.

"But it's such a dashing name!" Draco said.

"At least it's his middle name," Hermione said.

"Alexander's your middle name? I never knew that!" Draco exclaimed. "I always thought that it was something with an 'S' – that way, your initials would be SSS."

"Hey Dad," Janie started. "Your initials sound like sass. That's funny."

"Thanks, Janie," Severus responded dryly, as the waitress came with their appetizers.

"So besides the name, do you know when he's due?"

"The date so far is November 18th," Hermione replied.

Draco nodded. "Congratulations."

"Congratulations to you too," Severus replied, while Hermione added her own congratulations and the waitress came to take their orders.

--

Surprisingly, everything went well with Draco; although, it took another meeting for Severus and Hermione to allow him to take Janie out for an afternoon by himself. When Janie returned home, she couldn't be happier – especially since they spent over an hour in the Quidditch store and Draco bought Janie a brand new Ireland jersey, along with a giant bag of candy from Honeydukes.

Ireland had ended up making it all of the way to the game before the Quidditch World Cup. Even though they had caught the snitch, the opposing team had ended up winning, due to the severe point gap. It was now the beginning of August, and Severus and Janie were at Hogwarts again, trying to get down the patronus charm.

"Think of something happier," Severus said. "And concentrate on it."  
Janie had a determined look on her face. "Alright."  
"I'm going to let the boggart out of the chest now," her father stated.  
"I'm ready," Janie replied.  
As soon as Severus opened the chest, Janie looked at the dementor dead on.  
"_Expecto Patronum_!" Janie yelled, and finally, a silvery eagle soared out of the tip of her wand and fought the dementor away.  
As soon as the dementor was closed inside the chest and Janie heard the click she ran to her dad and hugged him, "I did it, Dad! I finally did it! Thank you so much!"

Severus hugged his daughter back. "What memory did you use?"

"Well," Janie started. "The first one was of Halloween."

"This Halloween?"

Janie nodded, "Yes. But it wasn't strong enough. So I thought of a different one."

"And what was that?" Severus asked.

Janie looked up at him, "The night I found out that you were my dad."

For a minute, it felt as if Severus couldn't breathe.

"Can I floo mum now? To tell her to come over really fast?" Janie asked.

Severus nodded, still at a lost for words. After everything, he probably wouldn't have picked that as the memory for Janie to produce a patronus with. As Severus glanced down at his daughter, his vision started to become a little blurry.

He narrowed his eyes, _Why can't I se…oh…_

As the flames in his office roared green with the impending arrival of Hermione, he shut his eyes.

"Mum!" Janie exclaimed.

"Janie, what in the world are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

"Dad and I were practicing," Janie said. "We have to show you something!"

"Practicing?"

"Yeah, Hogwarts is the only place that I can use my wand during the summer! It's inside the school's walls and dad checked all of the rules!" Janie bubbled with excitement.

"Loophole," Hermione said.

"No. It's more like taking advantage of what the rules didn't say," Janie replied, as they started to walk where Severus was, and he opened his eyes.

"Did your father say that?"

"I'm a fast learner," Janie smirked.

"So Severus, what have you two been practicing all of this time?" Hermione asked.

"Can I dad?" Janie asked. "Please?"

"Go ahead," he said, and motioned to continue with his hand.

Janie smirked, "Ready?"

"Of course," Hermione replied.

Janie's face suddenly became determined.

"_Expecto Patronum_!" Janie exclaimed, and the eagle flew from the tip of her wand again, making Hermione gasp. As soon as the eagle left Janie's wand, it glided over to Hermione. Once it had flown around her, it hovered in front of Severus for a few moments.

Severus' eyes widened in understanding, _My patronus_...

The patronus suddenly flew up and disappeared into the ceiling.

"Janie," Hermione said, rushing forwards and hugged her daughter. "I am so proud of you!"

Janie smiled, "Thanks, Mum. Want to know what memory I used?"

"Sure," Hermione responded.

"The night that I found out about dad," she said.

Hermione looked between Janie and Severus and her eyes immediately started to tear up.

"Oh Janie!" Hermione said and ran over to hug her daughter. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Mum…Mum, you're choking me," Janie mumbled.

As soon as she released Janie, she ran over to Severus and kissed him. "I'm so proud of you too!"

When she pulled away, she wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Well, I guess this calls for a celebration! How about ice cream?"

Janie's eyes grew wide, "Really?"

Hermione nodded.

As Janie led the way out of her father's office, Hermione linked arms with Severus and followed her out.

**A/N: Hope you liked it! Sorry again for the delay. I already have a good 18 (yes, that's a one followed by an eight) pages done on the next chapter, so it **_**will**_** be out a **_**lot**_** sooner than this one was! And I promise, some interesting things will happen next chapter! And I know the wedding scene is different from what was portrayed in **_**Deathly Hallows**_**, but to keep consistent with Harry and Ginny's wedding, I didn't change it.**


	32. A New Year Begins PI

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_, nor am I making any money off of this; it all belongs to J.K. Rowling. However, I'm glad that I can say that I own the characters that I created to fit into this world (owned by J.K. Rowling). **

**So here's the first part of the chapter. I think that there will be only two chapters left...the next half and then the epilogue. Although, it's not a definite, it's just what I'm thinking so far. **

**And I would like to thank courtjsonluvr87 returns**, **who pointed out a mistake, which made me realize that I forgot to add a section in the story. The section was supposed to explain about how Janie made the boggart turn into a dementor (even though a dementor is not what she fears most). I used the reasoning that in _Prisoner of Azkaban_, when Harry went to face the boggart in class, his fear was Voldemort, but then he remembered the 'thing on the train.' So I figured that if Harry can think that a dementor was his one true fear, then why couldn't Janie? Together, Severus helped Janie "trick" the boggart into making think that she was deathly afraid of boggarts.**

**Without further delay, I hope you enjoy the chapter! **

**There is a character named Ardeal Levock. Going with where he comes from, his name is pronounced as Ar-d-a-l Le-Vock. (But you can pronounce it however you want. It's just up there incase anyone wants to know.)**

**--**

_Dear Mr_. _and Mrs_. _Snape,_

_Isn't it just lovely to start out a message that way_? _I didn't get a chance to tell you this marvelous thing at the wedding – think of it as an extra gift_, _if you will_. _With the arrival of the baby getting closer, Hermione I have decided to send you on a paid vacation from September 1__st__ until the Christmas holidays_ _begin_. _This way, you'll be able to get everything ready without the extra stress of teaching_. _And Severus, you will be on vacation from the minute the baby is born until the Christmas holidays begin_. _Both of your substitutes have already been set up_. _You can't miss out on an opportunity like this_!

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

After reading the letter, Hermione and Severus stared at it in shock.

"He really didn't have to do that," Hermione said. "It was really nice of him…"

"He did it, because he knows he can," Severus said.

"And we're his favorites," Hermione snickered. "Even though it's a relief, he could have told us _before_ we were getting ready to go back to Hogwarts. I already have weeks worth of lessons planned. But, he's already done it, so there's no use in fighting it."

Severus sighed, "You're right."

Hermione looked completely shocked. "What did you just say?"

Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sick?"

"No."

"Am I sleeping?" She asked and then pinched herself. "No, I'm pretty sure that I'm awake. Are you _really_ here?"

"What can I say? It's an early vacation…it's one month less that I have to deal with the dunderheads that take residence in the school," he replied.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Let's go then. There are only a few more things to take care of."

--

"Good evening," Dumbledore greeted. "I'd like to welcome everyone to another wonderful year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our sorting, I'd like everyone to give a warm welcome to Mr. Ardeal Levock. He will be joining us this year as a third year student. I also believe that today also happens to be his birthday," Dumbledore said as he motioned with his hands where Ardeal was standing and the hall exploded in applause.

"Never heard of him before," Matt said.

"I've never _seen_ him before," Janie commented.

Ardeal was definitely someone that the three had never seen before. He was tall for his age, had jet black hair that was half spiked sideways, and his skin looked as though it lacked seeing sunlight.

"Now let the sorting begin!"

The entire hall watched as the students were called one by one; only a few last names seemed familiar.

"Levock, Ardeal," McGonagall called, and the boy made his way to the stool.

"Ahh," the sorting hat said, once it was placed on his head. 'We finally have another within our walls. You're very daring – but courageous when it suits you. And you poses nerve…quite manipulative at times, but you're chivalrous. It's up to you to decide which way your characteristics will lead you…you're intelligent. I hope you pick the right one. _Gryffindor_!"

As Ardeal stood up, the Gryffindor table burst out in applause.

After Ardeal was welcomed warmly at the Gryffindor table, the sorting seemed to go by quickly and the feast began. Before anybody knew it, the entire student body were walking back to their dormitories full and tired.

--

"Janie," Severus called, as Janie was leaving the Great Hall.

"Professor?" Janie asked, walking up to meet him outside of the Great Hall's doors. "What's wrong?" She asked, as she motioned for her friends to continue without her.

"I want you to be careful," he started. "Around Mr. Levock."

Janie raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

Severus lowered his voice to a whisper. "He's half vampire, Janie. If he ever gets too close to you, don't let him. Dumbledore assured us that he won't bite anyone, but you can never be too cautious. Alright?"

Janie nodded, "Alright."

"Good, now I'm sure your friends are waiting just around the corner for you."

Janie smiled.

"Good night, Janie."

"Night, Dad," Janie replied, and quickly hugged him before scurrying off down the corridor.

--

When the three returned back to the Common Room, McGonagall was standing near the middle of the room.

"Oh! Mr. Levock," she said, once he walked into the room. "The Headmaster would like to see you."

Ardeal nodded and left the room.

"Attention, everyone! Please, can I have your attention?" McGonagall called out. "Good," she said, once it was completely silent. "There's a small matter that I need to discuss with all of you. Your classmate, Mr. Levock, is coming to us from another country. He was homeschooled, but he is up to speed on everything that he should be. Mr. Levock is not…exactly like everyone else. However, I expect that you treat him with respect – like everyone else," she said, giving a few people in the room stern glances. "Currently, there's not enough room for him to room with the third years. The only available spot for him is to room with the sixth years. I hope that this poses no problems.

"Now, enjoy the rest of the night and welcome back! I shouldn't have to remind everyone that you're in Gryffindor and what that means. And," she said, right before leaving the room. "This conversation never happened."

Several heads nodded in agreement as their Professor left.

"That was strange," one of the older students said, as the group dispersed.

"My dad said something about Ardeal too," Janie murmured.

"What?" Lyss asked.

Janie nodded, as she led them over to a secluded corner. "My dad told me to be careful around him," Janie said, as they sat down.

"Because he's from a different country?" Lyss asked.

The two just stared at her.

"Well, he could act differently," Lyss explained.

Janie shook her head. "He never told me that I couldn't tell anybody, but we," she said, motioning between the three of them, "can't tell anyone. Alright?" She asked, as the other two nodded. "Ardeal is half vampire-"

"Woah!" Matt exclaimed, while Lyss smacked him.

"Shut up, Matt!" Lyss hissed. "No one else can know!"

"Merlin! This is unbelievably wicked!" Matt said. "I've always wanted to be friends with a vampire! And there he is!" He said, as he rose to his feet, but Janie and Lyss each grabbed an arm and yanked him back down.

"He can't know you know!" Janie said. "And I'm serious about this, Matt. Please?"

"He won't know anything," Matt replied. "Let me go talk to him-"

"No, not right now!"

"Just sit here," Lyss said. "It might look weird if you suddenly run after him."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll stay here."

--

After the first two weeks of classes had passed, it was finally time for something exciting. It was finally time for this year's Quidditch team tryouts. On the first day of the tryouts, Janie and Matt arrived early to the pitch, only to meet Mark Rhymer, who was the new Gryffindor captain.

"Oi Janie!" He greeted.

"Hey Mark. Congratulations on making captain."

Mark smiled, "Thanks, Janie. You know, you're as good as gold on this team…everyone knows it."

Janie smiled back, "I know. But I still have to tryout-"

"If anyone else tries out for the seeker position, they're just plain stupid. Is that Nick's brother?" Mark asked.

"Yeah," Matt replied and instantly, Mark's face lit up.

"Excellent – another Carter! Nice to meet you! Are you trying out too?"

Matt nodded. "For the keeper position."

Mark looked even happier. "Do you fly with your brother?"

"We play all of the time-"

"Excellent! I think we might just have our new keeper!" Mark said, as people started to file into the stadium.

A few minutes later, the tryouts began.

"Welcome to the tryouts for this year's Gryffindor Quidditch team. Currently, we only have three open spots on the team. However, that should not stop anyone from trying out for the spot they desire. On the other hand, first years are _not_ allowed to try out, so don't even make an attempt. I must warn you though…if you're planning to try out for the seeker position, you better be damn good.

"Tryouts will be this week – today, Wednesday, and Friday. The results will be posted on the bulletin board in the common room on Saturday morning. The ending of the practice on Friday will be a scrimmage game. Professor McGonagall has assured me that there will be a few surprises in store. Now what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"

--

After a tough week for the newcomers, it was finally Friday; finally time for the scrimmage match. After the final cuts had been made, the captain had set up two teams, with last year's team members evenly distributed. However, there was still a spot open on each team.

"How are we supposed to do this, Mark?" Michael Weasley asked. "We're short two people…you cut them!"

"It'll work," Mark replied, and then turned towards the stands. "C'mon out, guys!"

The team turned around to see two figures walk out from the inside of the Quidditch stands. As the team squinted to make out the two people, an ear-shattering scream broke the silence.

"IT'S OLIVER WOOD!" Lyss screamed, jumping up and down in her seat. "_Ahhhhhh_!"

"Oh no," Matt groaned.

"Not again," Janie added.

Within seconds, Lyss had climbed out of the stands and sprinted her way across the field to get a closer look at Oliver, who looked at her as he mounted his broom and smiled.

Janie waved to the other figure, who waved back.

"You didn't tell me that Harry was coming," Matt said to Janie.

"I didn't know," Janie replied.

--

As promised, the results were posted by McGonagall that morning. She hadn't even taken a step back from the board, when she was swarmed by students.

_Gryffindor Starting Line-up_

_Chasers_: _C_. _Mark Rhymer #2, Michael Weasley #6, and Logan Price #3_

_Beaters_: _James Avery #3 and Kalie Brahms #5_

_Keeper_: _Matt Carter #8_

_Seeker_: _Janie Snape #7_

"This is going to be a great year!" Michael exclaimed from behind them. "No one will stand a chance against us this year! Not even Slytherin!"

"You made it, Matt!" Janie exclaimed and hugged him.

"Yeah," Matt said, starting to blush a little.

"You did it!" Lyss exclaimed, running up to her brother. "Congratulations! Wait…but now I'll be all alone during the games! Scott made the Slytherin team too! I saw him in the corridor…he made one of the chasers."

"I'm sure you'll survive," Matt said. "You can always hang with your roommates."

"That's right!" Lyss said. "I can!"

"Did you see what was on the bottom of the board?" Janie asked.

Matt shook his head.

"We have practice tonight…at seven-thirty."

"Seven-_thirty_? But that means that we'll end up practicing in the dark!" Matt said. "Last time we tried to pull off a Quidditch match in complete darkness at your house, I nearly got hit with a bludger!"

"Ooo, ouch!" Mark Rhymer said, as he walked up behind the two. "But really, it's actually a bonfire for the team. It's a thing to get to know each other better…to build teamwork early on. I just didn't put that on there, because the entire house would show up. Just don't tell anyone else, alright?"

Janie and Matt eagerly nodded.

--

After the bonfire, the team returned late to the Common Room happy, but extremely tired. Not wanting to go to bed right away, Janie and Matt grabbed a small table on the side of the room and started to play chess. When they arrived in the room, Lyss was nowhere to be found…she wasn't even in her dormitory.

Not too long after they sat down, Ardeal walked down the stairs, followed by two of his roommates.

"C'mon, Ardeal," one of the boys said, as he shoved him at the base of the stairs.

"What don't you want to tell us?" The other boy asked, grabbing the attention of most of the occupants in the room.

"I don't need to tell you anything," Ardeal replied coolly.

"What are you hiding from us, then? What's in that flask that you care about so much?"

"It's none of your business-"

"It's illegal then, right?"

"No-"

"I bet it is-"

"It's medicine, alright?" Ardeal said.

"You don't take it everyday though, do you? It just sits there."

"It's none of your business, so you can just drop it."

"But if one of us gets too close to it, you go nuts-"

"I do not," Ardeal defended.

"Then you won't oppose if I go and drink it then, will you? I mean, it can't be too harmful if it's just sitting there, right?" The boy asked, as he went to go to their dormitory, but Ardeal shoved him.

"Leave it alone," he hissed. "Leave me alone. You don't know who you're dealing with-"

"Oh! Do we now?" The boy asked, as he shoved Ardeal out of the way and he fell over an empty chair and landed a short distance away from Janie.

"Are you alright?" Janie asked, as she got up to help Ardeal up.

"I'm fine," he said gruffly, got back up, and went back to his roommates, as Michael Weasley and Mark Rhymer walked in.

"Woah!" Michael exclaimed and ran in between his roommates. "Will you two knock it off already? Stop picking on him! I'm sick of it! It's all you two ever do. Knock it off or I _am_going to McGonagall."

After a few mumbled words, the two boys retreated back to their room, while Ardeal glared at Michael.

"If they give you anymore trouble, let me know," Michael said, as Ardeal walked away and sat on a chair only a few feet behind Janie.

After the room went back to normal, Janie turned to the side, while Matt surveyed the board. "You don't have to let them push you around like that."

Ardeal looked at her, "What do you know?"

"I know that no one deserves to be treated like that."

Ardeal raised an eyebrow, "You don't know the half of it."

Janie raised both of her eyebrows, "I think I might-"

In a matter of a few seconds, Ardeal's face changed, and he got off of his chair and made his way over to Janie.

"Did your daddy let you in on the little secret?" He whispered meanly to her.

Janie glared at him. "He might have."

"Good," he replied. "Then you'll know."

"Know what?"

"You'll know," he repeated, turned around, and walked back to his quarters.

"What was that all about?" Matt asked.

"I dunno," Janie replied. "Check."

--

That Monday, the trio was making their way outside to Herbology. Being a beautiful morning, the three decided to leave breakfast early and take their time getting to the greenhouses.

"Janie," Matt started. "I thought that Ardeal couldn't go outside."

"What?" She asked, and Matt pointed to a figure walking towards Hagrid's hut.

"He's a vampire, isn't he? I thought that they couldn't be out in the sunlight."

"Well, he's only a half vampire…maybe he can stand it a little bit more. Or maybe a spell or something," Janie said, as they made their way into greenhouse two.

--

That night, Ardeal walked into the Common Room after dinner, and quickly made his way to his dormitory.

"Did you see that?" Lyss asked. "He's all tan…and his hair is different colors."

"Maybe it's because of the sun," Matt said. "I mean, don't some vampires burn when their skin is exposed to sunlight? His skin is tan – what are you guys looking at me like that for? I told you that I like vampires."

--

The next few days went the same…they would see Ardeal go to class, looking normal, but then he'd disappear for the rest of the day, and show up after dinner. On the rare chance that they see him, the three always tried to talk to him, but he always was too busy. However, it wasn't until Friday that they nearly ran into him in the morning, when their Herbology class was cut short; Jessica Aarons got scared during class, which caused a chaos to break out, while repotting the mandrakes.

"I can't believe she flung the pot," Lyss said.

"Well, she didn't hit you, did she?" Scott asked.

Lyss laughed, "Nope."

"At least we got out early," Matt said. "Now we have extra time before Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Then lunch," Scott added, as they turned a corner and saw Ardeal walking towards them.

When Ardeal saw them, he stopped, and looked as though a deer was caught in headlights.

"Hey Ardeal," Matt greeted. "Your class get let out early too?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, and brushed passed them, on his way back to the castle.

"That was weird," Scott said.

"Especially since I can still hear Hagrid's voice lecturing," Lyss added.

"And his hair!" Matt said. "The top was _orange_! _That's_ what the sun does to it!"

"No wonder why he doesn't want anyone to see him like that," Scott remarked.

--

Later that day, Ardeal passed Janie and Lyss on their way to the library.

"I love his hair," Janie commented out loud.

Lyss looked at her.

"What?" Janie asked. "I didn't want to say it earlier with Matt and Scott. They would have thought that I was weird."

--

Almost another two weeks passed quickly for everyone in the castle, except Hermione, who had started to feel the boredom of not teaching. Occasionally, she would sit in on other classes in the back of the room, but it still wasn't the same as teaching.

On Friday, however, Hermione was shocked when she heard a knock at the door.

"Hey Hermione," Harry greeted, when Hermione opened her quarters' door.

"Harry! I didn't expect to see you today," Hermione replied, as she let him in. "How are you?"

"Great. Enjoying your time off?"

"At times," Hermione said, smiling. "Why don't you sit down and I'll get you something to drink?"

Harry rubbed his arm. "Well, ehr… that would be really nice, but I'm actually here to talk to your husband."

Hermione looked dumbfounded for several seconds. "You need to talk to Severus?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah."

"_Willingly_?"

"Yes," Harry replied, almost making Hermione fall over.

"Alright…he's in his office," Hermione informed him, leading him through her quarters and to another door.

"Severus," Hermione called, once she opened the door, making him look up. "Harry's here…and he wants to talk to you."

Severus raised an eyebrow, "What for?"

"He won't tell me," she said, shooting a glare at Harry.

"Sorry Hermione, but it's on a need-to-know basis only," Harry apologized.

"But I need to know," Hermione said.

Harry cracked a smile, "No, you _want _to know. There's a difference."  
Hermione glared at him again, "Can I stay?"

"No," Harry replied.

"Severus?" Hermione asked.

"Sorry, Hermione," he replied.

"Humph," Hermione said, and left the room.

"So," Harry began, once the door was closed, but Severus held up a hand to stop him.

"That doesn't mean that you can listen outside of the door, Hermione," Severus called.

On the other side of the office door, Hermione made a sour face.

Harry laughed while Severus cast a silencing charm on his office.

"Am I correct in saying that you're here on Ginny's behalf?"

Harry nodded, "It would have been way too suspicious if Ginny showed up and wanted to talk to you."

Severus nodded. "Take a seat."

--

Hermione awoke early the next day; she and Ginny would be meeting in Hogsmeade at 9 o'clock. As she made her way out of her bedroom, she paused – someone was talking.

Peeking around a corner, Hermione saw Severus leaning up against the door.

"Make sure you put your sweater on," he said. "It's chilly out this morning."

Janie looked up at him. "It wasn't that bad out yesterday morning," she said, reaching up for her a purple object.

Severus raised an eyebrow, "You had a Quidditch match."

Janie smiled, "That we won."

"Yes, and I believe that I even saw Mr. Narls cheering for you."

Janie's cheeks started to turn a little pink, "That's only because Ravenclaw is Slytherin's biggest threat, besides us."

Severus gave her a look that said, 'Uh-huh, sure.'

"Really…" Janie tried assuring.

"Is that why he didn't try out for seeker?"

"No…"

"That boy would make a superb seeker-"

"His brother was a seeker-"

"Shame for the Slytherin Quidditch team to miss such talent-"

"He likes the position he plays-"

"Because then he can't directly face you," Severus finally finished.

Janie's mouth gaped, "No-"

She stopped as her father raised his eyebrows.

"Let's go Dad, before mum wakes up," she said, opening the door.

--

After Hermione and Ginny had been walking around Hogsmeade for a while on their monthly excursion out together, Hermione finally asked the question that she had been dying to ask.

"Ginny, why did Harry want to talk to Severus?" Hermione asked.

Ginny's eyebrows shot up, "Harry wanted to do _what_?"

"Talk to Severus…willingly."

"Hermione, you're making it sound like he'd never do that."

"Well, he doesn't normally come over _just_ to talk to Severus. He didn't even want a cup of tea!"

"Maybe it's a guy thing," Ginny said. "They're guys…they don't have a lot of reasons to do certain things. I wouldn't worry about it too much though, Hermione."

Hermione sighed. "I suppose your right."

"Of course I am," Ginny said. "Now let's go into that store over there," she announced, pointing to a store across the street from them.

--

"Tell me why again, have you finally decided to go to a potions convention?" Hermione asked, as Severus led her into a beautiful hotel on that following Sunday.

"They finally have something interesting to see," he replied simply.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Really now? And I get to come too?"

Severus halted, "Why wouldn't you be able to come? You like potions too."

"Well-"

"And being my wife, you get the special VIP package too-"

"Why can I come here, when you won't even let me get ten feet near the potions classroom?"

A small smirk popped up on Severus' face, "There isn't any brewing at this convention."

Hermione looked confused, "What do you mean, 'no brewing?'"

Severus nodded. "It's just through here," he said, and opened a door for Hermione.

"Severus-"

"SURPRISE!" An entire crowd yelled.

"Oh my…Merlin!" Hermione exclaimed, as she looked in front of her to find a full-fledged baby shower.

After staring for a moment, Hermione turned around and ran right into Severus, who turned her back around to face the room. In seconds, she was swarmed by Mrs. Weasley, Nancy Granger, and Eileen.

"Have fun," Severus said, as she was pulled away by her mother and mother-in-law.

"Thank you so much, Severus," Mrs. Weasley said. "For everything."

Severus inclined his head. "I'll be back in a few hours-"

"Nonsense!" Molly exclaimed, making Severus freeze. "You're staying!"

"But baby showers are for women…I'd be out of place."

"I want you to stay," Mrs. Weasley countered.

Severus looked around at the mainly powder blue decorations, with twinges of pink here and there.

"Really, Molly-"

"Hermione will need help with all of her gifts-"

"I'll come back to help her-"

"Wouldn't you want to help her open them?" Mrs. Weasley gave him one of her stern looks.

"Well, yes, but-"

"Good! Now that that's settled," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him over towards Hermione. "What would you like to drink?"

--

"So any plans for this year?" Lyss asked Janie, on the morning of Halloween.

Janie smiled, "Nope."

"No pranks? At all?"

"None. I've decided to take a break. Besides, how could I possibly outdo myself?"

"Oh, you'll think of a way," Matt said.

Janie laughed. "I know, but it was pretty much a one time thing. Besides, I'm pretty sure that somebody else besides just us and those Slytherin boys know who really pulled it off. I don't think that they'd let me get away with another year of pulling a great prank like that."

"True," Lyss said. "So I guess it's just the feast then tonight?"

"Yep," Janie said. "We get to enjoy it this year…hopefully."

--

After the three finished eating at the feast, they left early to avoid the dessert. Janie had a large bag of treats hidden in her dormitory and they didn't want to spoil the candy by pigging out on the delectables during the feast. Instead of going back to their dormitory, the three decided to venture out to the grounds for a short walk around the lake. However, things seemed to stray away from their plan when Janie noticed a figure going into the forest some ways away from them.

"What is it?" Matt asked, when Janie stopped dead.

"Someone just went into the forest," Janie replied.

"Someone or some_thing_?"

"I dunno, but I'm pretty sure that it was a person," Janie said quietly, walking over to where the person disappeared.

"Janie, what are you doing?" Lyss asked.

"Let's go find out who it is," Matt said, quickly walking to meet up with Janie.

"Are you two _crazy_? You're going to go into the forest on _Halloween_?"

"So, the forest is the same as it was yesterday."

"Except now the creatures living _know_that it's Halloween," Lyss countered.

"Well-"

"You guys, only a handful know what day it is. Even so, that's not what Halloween is about. Way back, a long, long time ago, Halloween was when the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. Like the muggle Celtics celebrated Samhain, which was when the ghosts of the dead returned to earth."

Matt stared at Janie.

"Oh no!" Janie hissed. "I just acted like my mother!"

"Janie, I don't even want to know how you know that-"

"Now I have to be worried about ghosts too-"

"There are ghosts _in_the wizarding world – they're in the _castle_-"

"Ssshhh!" Janie commanded, as she slowed down, and pulled her wand out.

Matt tried to open his mouth to speak, but Janie put her finger in front of her lips to get him to stay silent.

A few moments later, the three came to a circular clearing, with a figure standing in the middle. They watched as it slowly approached a tree that had a shelf carved into it with a small assortment of bottles on it. Right as the figure picked up one of the bottles, Matt shifted slightly and rustled one of the bush's branches in front of them. They had just enough time to jump behind one of the large trees, right before the person turned around.

"It's Ardeal," Lyss said, barely audible. "Can we go back now? It's getting rather spooky here."

When the three got up, they turned back to the clearing, only to find that Ardeal was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Matt asked, as they were turning around. "He was right th-" He was cut off when Lyss screamed.

As soon as Janie and Matt turned around, they found Ardeal right in front of them.

"Why are you following me?" Ardeal said lowly.

"We didn't know it was you-"

"Why did you follow me? It's not safe to be out in the forest…alone…"

"Why are _you_ in the forest?" Janie countered. "Alone…by yourself."

"That's none of your concern," he replied. "Go back to the castle – you're missing the party."

"And it's none of your concern on why we're out here," Janie retorted. "Maybe we just happen to like strolling through the forest."

"It's Halloween…dangerous things lurk in the forest-"

"Yeah, Janie – let's go," Lyss said, pulling her sleeve. "There's werewolves out here-"

"I'm not the one who should be worried about the werewolves-"

"You should be," Ardeal said, with a crooked eyebrow. 'I know how to fend for myself…do you?"

Janie glared at the boy, "Why do you act like that?"

Ardeal raised his eyebrows.

"We've tried to become your friend, Ardeal. We're not like everybody else. Why can't you just-"

"No. Now leave me alone-"

"This is what I'm talking about!" Janie fumed. "Cut it out-"

"You cut it out. I don't need you to feel _sorry_ for me. Did you think that I _wanted_ to become what I am? Not everyone made it out of that war unscathed-"

"So? Friends help you to get through things-"

"I don't _need_ any friends. _No one_ needs to be-"

"We _want_ to be-"

"You _want _to be friends with me? You don't even _know_ me or what I am."

"See-"

"See? You want to see? Fine," he said, his eyes turning a vibrant red. "How…about," Ardeal said, getting dangerously close to Janie. "Now?" He asked, his mouth clenched, showing his white teeth.

"Leave her alone," Matt said, pulling Janie back to stand in front of her.

"See, I told you that nobody wants to be my friend. It's because of what I am – what I become."

"You're half vampire, so what?" Matt asked.

"Am I? Really?" Ardeal asked, bending down a little, so that they were face-to-face. "I wouldn't mess with me right now," he said, his eyes flashing. "Want to see something?" He said and opened his mouth a little, so that the three could see his top canine teeth turn into fangs.

As the three stared with wide eyes, Ardeal got so close to Matt that he shoved him away.

"Stay away from me," Matt gruffed.

"Then don't ever follow me again. It has been a long time since I've bitten a human – don't make me change that now."

"If you ever lay a _finger_ on them, I _will_ come after you."

The older boy raised an eyebrow, "Really now? Is that a threat?"

Matt glared at him, "Do I need to verbally say it?"

Ardeal let out a small chuckle. "You want to know a threat?" He asked, and grabbed Matt by the collar or his robes. "_This_ is a threat," he said, bent down, and right as he was about to lay his teeth on Matt's neck, they heard a great crackling noise come from behind them.

Immediately, Ardeal snapped his head away from Matt and his eyes rapidly searched the forest.

"What is it?" Lyss asked, terrified.

"Something big," he murmured. "Very big."

"Let me g-" Matt's words flew from his mouth, as Ardeal released him and he stumbled into a sitting position.

Before Matt even hit the ground, Ardeal had already grabbed a flask off of his tree shelf.

Matt didn't even have time to get up, before the large creature burst through the trees.

"FLUFFY!" Janie exclaimed.

"You _know_that thing?" Lyss asked frantically.

"Only from stories," Janie replied.

"He's gone!" Matt shouted, as the giant dog took an interest in the three.

"Oh crap," Janie said. "Try to stay very…still."

Suddenly, the dog let out a ferocious growl.

"Run!" Janie exclaimed, and the three turned around and started to dodge the branches in front of them.

"Lose your capes!" Janie yelled, as Fluffy ripped through the trees behind them.

The three ran as fast as they could through the forest, heading straight for the castle.

"Keep running!" Janie yelled, as she jumped over a branch.

Soon, the trees started to thin and they could see the warm light coming from Hagrid's cabin.

"HAGRID!" Janie screamed. "HELP US!"

"_Hagrid_!" Lyss called.

Within seconds, they were running across the grounds, screaming for the groundskeeper.

With one final scream, Hagrid ripped open his door as they were passing, and nearly fell over.

"_Fluffy_! Ye' alive!" Hagrid wailed.

"Hagrid, help us!" Janie bellowed, but Hagrid was too busy bawling in happiness that his beloved three-headed dog was still alive.

"Merlin!" Matt yelled, once he saw that Hagrid had fallen apart. "We're dead!"

Right before they were chased into the forest, Janie tried their one last chance.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM_!" Janie exclaimed, and the hawk emerged from her wand. "I need my dad!"

Within seconds, the hawk was off, soaring towards the castle.

"Patronus!" Matt exclaimed.

"Yeah," Janie replied, as they made another journey into the forest. "Keep him on the edges!" Janie yelled, as she sharply turned, so that the dog chased them on the outskirts of the forest.

"Is your…dad…coming?" Lyss asked.

"Hopefully," Janie said, as a stray branch almost hit her in the face.

"Janie…can't run…much…longer-"

"Dad!" Janie yelled. "Someone help us!" She added, while the three heads lowered and tried to gnash at them.

"Professor!" The twins yelled.

Trying to avoid one of the dog's heads, Janie didn't see the root that was lying in front of her; a second later, she tripped over it and hit the ground hard.

"Janie!" The two yelled together, but something else caught their eye; Ardeal was perched on a high tree branch above them.

"Dad!" Janie screamed again; she had yet to notice Ardeal.

Without warning, he jumped from the tree and onto the dog's back. As soon as Fluffy felt the unwelcomed presence, he immediately started to shake to get the boy off.

With a great thud, the giant creature sat down and clawed Ardeal, sending him to the ground. The older boy jumped right back up and the ugly scratch marks on his arm and cheek instantly disappeared.

Once Fluffy saw that the object was on the ground, he stood back up, and kicked Ardeal with such force, that he flew backwards into a tree, and lay unmoving on the ground.

Janie quickly got to her feet and the three started to run again. It seemed that their luck was getting worse – the moment that Matt looked backwards, was the exact time that Janie and Lyss noticed the small drop off in front of them. As they jumped down, Matt fell down and toppled into the girls' way. As Janie's back hit the ground, she raised her wand and started to fire spells at the dog. Only a few of the spells seemed to affect the dog – and they only seemed to anger him even more.

"We're done for!" Matt exclaimed.

"Run!" Janie yelled. "Get help! Filch if you have to!"

"No!" Lyss exclaimed. "We're not leaving you, Janie!"

Suddenly, a spell hit the dog in the face, and he stumbled backwards. Seeing the opportunity, Janie flipped over and got up.

"JANIE!" Matt yelled, as he started to throw rocks at the dog.

Before Janie knew what was happening, the dog had gotten hold of her sweater and started to drag her across the ground.

"Let go of her!"

"Leave her alone!"

"Argh!" Janie yelled, as she tried to wiggle out of her sweater. "Run guys, _run_!"

Unexpectedly, a spell came out of nowhere and nearly knocked the dog over, ripping Janie's school sweater right off of her. Stunned, Janie sat up and tried to catch her breath.

When she looked around, she didn't see anybody but Lyss and Matt, and strangely enough, a soft music filled the air. A few moments later, a great crackling of trees exploded through the near silence and Fluffy fell over – fast asleep.

"Thank God," Janie murmured, as she shakily got off of the ground.

"Ow!" Matt exclaimed. "You've got scratches everywhere!"

"It's better than being eaten," Janie replied, when her gaze settled on the figure that had helped them.

"Dad!" She exclaimed, ran over to him, and hugged him. "I was so scared!"

For the first time, Severus didn't reprimand Janie for being in the forest; he didn't yell at her and he didn't ask her anything – he hugged her back.

"Thank you so much, Professor," Lyss said.

"You saved our lives," Matt added.

"Is everyone alright?" He finally spoke.

The three nodded.

"Just a few cuts," Janie said.

"Let's get back to the castle again," he said.

"Ardeal was out here too…" Janie said.

"What was he doing out here?"

Janie shrugged, "We found him…he had a flask. He was right over…there…" she trailed off when she saw that he had completely disappeared.

"He's probably already back in the castle," Severus replied.

It was a quiet walk back to the castle. The only words spoken in the Entrance Hall, was when Severus told Janie that they were going to the Hospital Wing and Matt and Lyss bid goodbye.

"You know," Severus started, when they were walking up the stairs. "That dog bit me before."

Janie looked up at him, "Really? That must've hurt a lot."

Severus nodded. "And it was on Halloween too."

"Wow…that's so weird," she replied as they rounded the corner and walked into the Hospital Wing.

"Oh dear Merlin!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. "What happened to you? It looks like you fell into a pit of cats!"

"The dog is back, Poppy," Severus stated.

Madam Pomfrey looked lost.

"Hagrid's dog-"

"Oh dear God," she said. "That three-headed thing?"

Severus nodded.

"What happened to you, then?" The mediwitch asked, directing her attention towards Janie.

"I was dragged into the forest," Janie said quietly.

"I will not stand for that dog hurting these students! Dumbledore _must _be going crazy now. I can't believe that that…_thing_ is back."

"I don't think that it ever left. And apparently, Mr. Levock was knocked unconscious and ran back up here-"

"And he didn't come to see me? Now I'm going to have to hunt him down!" She replied, running her wand around Janie's body. Moments later, she was completely healed and jumped off of the bed.

"I expect you'll be heading to the Headmaster's office now."

Severus nodded.

"Well, I'm sure that he'll hear it all from you…I don't think that my input will really be needed."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot, Poppy," he said as they left.

--

"Does mum know?" Janie asked.

Severus shook his head. "Luckily, I got your patronus while in my supply closet."

"I'm glad that it worked," Janie said. "We didn't know if it would or not."

"It spoke too," Severus said. "I heard your voice."

"Really? I had no idea that it would do that! I was just hoping that it would 'peck' you until you followed it."

Severus smirked. "I think it's best that we don't tell your mother exactly what happened tonight. Alright?"

Janie nodded, "That's fine with me."

"Alright, well I need to go and talk with the Headmaster. I'm sure your friends are dying to see you."

Janie smiled, "Let him have it, Dad."

Severus even cracked a smile himself.

--

"Enter," Dumbledore said, and Severus walked into the room.

"Severus! How are you? To what pleasure should I owe this visit?"

Snape glared darkly at him.

"Whatever is the matter?" Dumbledore asked, seeing that Severus was anything but happy.

"That damn dog that you released nearly twenty years ago is back-"

"Fluffy?"

"Yes-"

"He actually appeared?"

"He attacked my daughter and _dragged _her across the ground!" Severus raged. "I _told _you that releasing him in _Hogwarts'_ forest was a stupid idea!"

"Severus-"

"Do you have any _idea_ what it was like to have that be the first thing you see?"

"Severus-"

"And Ardeal Levock…there's something up with him. I…don't…like him. He was _in_ that forest with that _dog_ and he _left_. _You_ are going crazy."

"Are you done?" Dumbledore asked warmly.

Severus looked him in the eye, "I don't know yet. What else do you want to hear about? And Poppy says that she _will not_ stand for students getting injured by that dog."

"Sever-"

"And did you know that Hagrid was standing outside of his house _crying_ over how his dog was _still alive_," Severus fumed, while Dumbledore got up.

"_Severus_," Dumbledore said right when he was standing in front of him, making the younger man pause.

"Calm down," he said. "Sit," he ordered, and pushed him backwards into a chair.

"I am really sorry that that happened to Janie, Severus," Dumbledore said, once he was sitting back down behind his desk. "I promise that I will set up a new ward to keep the dog away from where any students may travel. And I will talk to Hagrid about his priorities…As for Ardeal-"

"That's another reason why you're crazy. It's like a certain incident all over again."

Dumbledore ignored his comment. "There was a problem in the Gryffindor dormitories. The boys in his room found his potion and criticized him for it. After last month, I told him that he could hide it elsewhere, where students would be unable to reach it. He needs that potion every month or he will start to bite animals and eventually people."

"I know what the potion is for," he snapped. "I want to know why that potion was in the forest and why he's sneaking around."

"I will talk to him," Dumbledore said. "Rest assured, Severus. I will deal with it. And I will ask him about his actions and I will hear him out."

Severus sighed.

"I must ask you one thing – _please_do not take it upon yourself to 'fix' the problem. I will deal with it first thing tomorrow," Dumbledore said, looking Severus in the eye. "I am terribly sorry that this event happened, Severus."

Severus just continued to stare at him. "I don't know why he wasn't placed in Slytherin. He clearly acts like it."

Dumbledore closed his eyes; he knew that this was going to come up sooner or later. Dumbledore looked at him sadly. "The Sorting Hat looks into your heart…not your head. It looks into what your heart wants, not what your brain is telling you. A man's heart always tells the truth."

"Then what about me?" Severus asked.

"When you first came here, your heart only knew of your home and the problems that lied within in. When you came to Hogwarts, you longed to fit in…to have friends. If that meant proving yourself, I'm sure that you would have had no problem. And when you arrived at Hogwarts, you made friends…nearly all of whom were in Slytherin. The hat read your desire to keep your friends. Your father-"

"Albus."

Dumbledore stopped and looked at him.

"I have to go now," he said, standing up. "Hermione will be looking for me," he added, as he walked across the room.

"Good night," Dumbledore bid, as Severus shut the door behind him.

--

Just before Dumbledore was going to call it a night and head into his chambers, he took one last look out his window at the beautiful starry sky. However, the sky wasn't the first thing that grabbed his attention; it was the figure walking around the lake.

He sighed, _Oh Severus…_

--

About an hour and a half after Severus had finally fell asleep that night, Hermione woke him up.

"Severus," she whispered, gently shaking his shoulder. "Severus, wake up."

He woke with a start, "Hermione? Is everything alright? The baby-"

"Sorry to wake you up…but I'm hungry."

"You're…_hungry_?" He asked.

"Yes," she said, and he turned over and pulled the covers up.

"Severus!"

"What do you want to eat?"

"Hmm…ice cream."

"What kind of ice cream?"

"Vanilla…no, sherbet!"

"What flavor?"

"Orange," Hermione replied.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Will you be awake this time?"  
"Definitely. I want that ice cream," she responded, as Severus got out of bed and nearly stumbled over the cat, which jumped off of the bed with him.

He returned a few minutes later with the bowl of ice cream.

"See? I'm still up!" Hermione said. "Aw, you didn't get yourself any?"

"No," he replied, handing her the frozen dish.

"Thank you, Severus," she said gratefully and ate a spoonful of the tangy treat.

"Uh huh," he said, as he climbed back under the covers.

"Are you sure you don't want any?" She questioned.

"Yes," he said softly."

"Where were you earlier?" She asked.

"With Dumbledore."

"What'd he want?"

"Nothing in particular," he said. "Goodnight, Hermione."

--

Nearly two weeks later, Janie was walking out of library alone, because Matt and Lyss had both received detention. During their Potions Class, the two had gotten into an argument so bad, that they started to throw ingredients at each other. Luckily, Severus had put an end to it, before any objects could land in to anyone's cauldron. Needless to say that they promptly earned detention and thirty points from Gryffindor.

Being alone, Janie was not expecting to hear her name be called from down the hallway, by someone she hardly talked to.

"Janie! Janie Snape!" A voice from behind called.

Janie turned around to raise an eyebrow at the boy.

"Do you have a minute?"

"I might," Janie replied.

"I'm sorry," Ardeal said. "About what happened in the forest. I've…I've been thinking about what you said. I-"

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Janie asked. "Nobody will hear anything that way."

Ardeal only nodded.

"So, what were you saying?" Janie asked, once they were in a completely deserted corridor.

"I thought about what you said before…I'm really sorry about Halloween – for the way I acted. I never expected anyone to ever follow me, especially into the forest. I put my potion in there, because my roommates kept finding it in the room. With the whole episode with them, I forgot to take my potion – and once I miss it that day, I have to wait until the next month. When I saw you guys in the forest, I was afraid that I might bite you. I was just about to take the potion, when the three of you showed up. When that dog came, I had to leave to take it, because I don't know what would have happened it I waited. Once the potion kicked it, I came back to find you."

"But why did you leave?" Janie asked.

Ardeal sighed, "I heard your dad coming."

"You…_heard_ him?" Janie questioned.

"Well…sensed him, before I heard him. I didn't want to be there when he came…I don't think that he likes me very much. After what Dumbledore told me…I think that I'm probably his least favorite person here."

"You're not. Professor Sinstra is. Then, it's any boy who gets too close to me," Janie replied.

"I knew that if he was coming, then the three of you would be safe. Professor Snape would never let anything bad happen to you…"

They walked in silence for several seconds longer, before Janie stopped.

"You said that you thought about what I said. Would you like to be friends?"

Ardeal looked at her. "Friends? After everything that I've done, you still would want to be friends with me?"

Janie nodded, "Yes."

Ardeal looked down the corridor for several long moments. "Alright. Let's be friends then," he said, turning his attention back to Janie.

"You know, if you want, Lyss and I could hide the potion for you. We could meet in the Common Room when you need it."

Ardeal raised an eyebrow, "You'd do that for me?"

Janie smiled, "Sure. What are friends for?"

--

That Friday, Severus was trying to make it through his last class of the week. Earlier that week, Ginny told them that Hermione could have the baby at any time over the weekend, and Severus just wanted the day to end without any problems.

Every few minutes or so, he would look at the hourglass on his desk. He had his second years brewing a rather easy potion, something that they couldn't mess up. As it seemed, luck was on his side; he only had the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors all day – no Slytherins. One more class to go and it was finally the weekend.

Janie was again the first one done with her potion, and was quietly sitting at her work station, looking around the class, when she spotted William Braxley picking up a strand of unicorn hair.

_There's no way that he's done already_, Janie thought to herself, as she tried to discretely look over her classmate's cauldron. _No! He's doing it all wrong! He's not supposed to add the unicorn hair in until he stirs it and the potion turns orange_!

"Braxley," Janie called, trying to get the boy's attention. "Hey, Braxley!"

"Janie, what are you doing?" Lyss asked, as Severus started to make his way to their table.

"He's going to cause an explosion! Braxley!" Janie exclaimed, as Severus saw what the Hufflepuff boy was about to do.

"Mr. Braxley!" Severus shouted, but the boy didn't pay any attention to him.

"He's got things in his ears," Matt pointed out to Lyss.

"Braxley!" Janie yelled, as she jumped out of her seat and started to run towards his table.

"William Braxley, _do not add that to the potion_!" Severus snarled, as Matt got up and also started to run towards the boy.

Suddenly, William looked up; the first person he saw was Severus heading right for him. Thinking that he was going to get into trouble for not finishing his potion in time, he immediately lowered his hand towards the potion, when he saw Janie rushing towards him, waving her arms for him to stop. Having no idea _what_she was doing, William Braxley shrugged, and right as Severus started to reach for his hand, Remus burst into the room.

"_Severus_!" Remus exclaimed, as he threw the door open, making Severus snap his head towards the direction of the door, while Braxley dropped the unicorn hair into the cauldron.

At that same moment, Matt lunged himself towards his classmate, and pulled him onto the ground; Janie's eyes widened, and tried to turn around, while Severus was completely caught off guard by Remus. As soon as the piece of hair hit the surface of the potion, the cauldron exploded, the force sending Severus, Janie, and the cauldron flying backwards. Severus was sent over his desk and smashed an assortment of bottled potions ingredients behind his desk; Janie was propelled right into Lyss and knocked them both right over onto the floor, while her hand smashed into Lyss' cauldron, and knocked it over too. The cauldron also took its leave from Braxley's work station and ricocheted off of one of the corners of the classroom, and knocked a torch right off of the wall.

After a split second of shock, Remus ran forwards and picked up the torch, before it could set any of the leaking potion ingredients on fire. As he extinguished the flames, Janie leaped up from the floor and ran to her father, as Matt helped William Braxley up.

"Professor Snape," Janie said, as she reached her dad.

"Is everybody alright?" Remus asked.

A few groans were heard around the classroom, while everyone else remained intensely quiet in shock; several moments later, the room exploded in a frenzy of voices.

"Professor Snape?" Janie asked again. "Dad," she said, gently shaking his shoulder. "Dad, are you alright?"

"Mr. Braxley, are you alright?" Remus asked quickly, stopping shortly in front of his desk.

The boy nodded, "I don't think Professor Snape knew that I had an ear infection, and what Madam Pomfrey had to do to fix it."

Remus nodded, "Nice job, Mr. Carter. Twenty five points to Gryffindor," he added and quickly started to make his way towards Severus' desk.

"Professor Lupin!" Janie frantically yelled. "Professor Lupin, help!"

When Remus heard this, he started to run over towards Janie; he even thought about hopping over Severus' desk.

"Please!"

"Janie, what is it?" Remus asked worriedly.

"He won't wake up!" Janie exclaimed, her voice quivering.

As Remus checked for a heart beat, he looked at the shattered bottles spread around the classroom. After he found a pulse, he stood up in front of the class, "Class is dismissed. Go _directly_ to your common rooms!"

Janie looked at Remus desperately, "Is he going to be alright? What's going on?"

The older man leaned over towards a shattered flask and read the label on it. "Janie, we _need _to get out of here now."

**A/N**: **As of always, thanks to every one who has read and reviewed this story! It is really appreciated! And if anyone would like to see anything happen, any questions answered, or any loose ties tied up before the ending of the story, feel free to drop a line!**


	33. A New Year Begins PII

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Harry Potter**_**, J.K Rowling does and I am also not making any money on this.**

**First off, I'm really sorry that it has taken this long! Both of my computers died, but I was able to get the chapter off of the one; on the other, I lost everything. **

**I find it kind of funny (C'mon and laugh with me!) that I actually wrote the beginning and ending of this chapter months before I wrote the middle. There was only supposed to be the next part of this chapter and then the epilogue (before it was over), but I couldn't stop myself from writing and instead of putting one massive chapter online again, I've decided to split it up a little more. I recently went through the story online and I realized how long the chapters were! **

* * *

_Janie looked at Remus desperately, "Is he going to be alright? What's going on?"_

_The older man leaned over towards a shattered flask and read the label on it. "Janie, we need to get out of here now_._"_

* * *

"What? Why?" Janie asked, alarmed.

"When your father broke all of the glass, he mixed two very volatile ingredients. I don't know what might happen; but it won't be good. We need to get into your father's office. Go and open the door. I'll bring your father in there."

Janie nodded and reached for the table, so that she could help herself up, when she gasped and grabbed her hand.

As Remus hoisted Severus off of his feet and threw an arm around his shoulder, he looked at Janie, "What's wrong?"

"My hand," Janie said, as she showed him the back of her hand, which was a lovely shade of purple.

After they had safely made it into Severus' office, Remus set Severus down, while he looked at Janie's hand, "We need to get you to Madam Pomfrey…we need to get _both_ of you to Madam Pomfrey."

Remus looked at Severus and ran his hand through his hair. "This is not good," he mumbled to himself. "I can't believe I distracted him like that. Your mother is going to kill me."

Janie looked up with wide eyes. "Is my mum alright? Is that why you burst into the classroom? Is she having the baby?"

Remus closed his eyes, "Yes."

Janie's eyes popped open even wider, as Remus practically ran to the floo, and threw some powder in.

"Janie, can you go through to the Hospital Wing? Tell Madam Pomfrey what happened; tell her that we _need_ something done _fast_, because we have to get your father to St. Mungo's."

Janie nodded quickly, and practically ran into the fireplace.

---

"Madam Pomfrey!" Janie exclaimed, as soon as the room stopped spinning in front of her. "Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pom-"

"I'm right here," the matron said. "What's the matter?" She asked, looking Janie over for any injuries. "What happened to your hand-"

"You need to help, fast," Janie began. "There was an explosion in potions-"

"Another cauldron?"

Janie nodded, "My dad caught the full blast – he was sent backwards into his ingredients. Now he's unconscious and my mum's having the baby!" Janie rushed, as Remus came through the floo, carrying Snape with him.

"Oh my!" Madam Pomfrey cried, when she saw the two men arrive.

"Please, Poppy," Remus began. "We really need to get him up."

The mediwitch bustled over to an empty bed, near her office, "Hurry, set him here. Do you know what he shattered?"

"A lot of stuff," Remus said. "It's extremely unsafe to go back into his classroom. I found a broken flask of some type of knock-out potion. Please Poppy; I know that you can get him up. Hermione has gone into labor and really needs him there; there is nobody there for her to yell at yet."

"Janie, why don't you go over and wait in my office for me," Madam Pomfrey said. As soon as Janie was out of earshot, she added, "You might want to call somebody for her to be with right now. With her mother in labor and her father out cold, she's going to need somebody. And we're going to have to let Hermione know that her husband will be later than expected."

Remus nodded and left the room, while Madam Pomfrey busied herself running diagnostic spells on Snape.

---

"Hermione," Ginny said seriously.

"No," Hermione grounded out.

"He's coming! I know he is! We've sent Remus to get him-"

"Well he's not here yet!" Hermione gasped.

"You need to calm down!" Ginny warned.

"I-" Hermione stopped abruptly, when she heard a knock at the door.

Ginny went to the door and saw Remus with his back against the wall.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"There's been a problem," he stated.

Ginny's eyes widened, "What happened? Where's Snape? If he doesn't get here soon, she's going to kill him."

"He's not coming right now…"

"What? _Why_?"

"There's been an accident at the school…a cauldron exploded," Remus said softly.

Ginny's eyes were now bulging, "Is he alright?"

"He's been knocked unconscious," he replied. "As of right now, we can't get him up."

Ginny gasped, "What?"

Remus nodded. "You need to tell Hermione. And Harry and Ron are going back to Hogwarts for a little bit, because Janie was involved in the explosion as well."

"Is she alright?" Ginny asked.

"It looks like she broke her hand," Remus said. "We think that she'll cope better with everything if she had someone who will be able to calm her down."

Ginny nodded. "Alright. I'll go back and tell her, but please, get Snape up soon. Nothing good will come if she keeps holding everything in."

---

"Hermione," Ginny said hesitantly, as she entered the room.

"What is it? Where's Severus? What's going on?" Hermione pelted at Ginny.

"Hold on-"

"If he's deciding to chicken his arse out now, I'm going to hex him myself," she said, and then squeezed her eyes shut.

"No…" Ginny trailed off, and then took a deep breath. "There was an accident during class."

"What?" Hermione asked slowly.

Ginny sucked in another breath. "There was a cauldron explosion at the school. Remus walked in right as it was happening-"

"The last class? Janie's in that class too!"

"Janie's alright…she only broke her hand-"

"What about Severus?"

"He caught the explosion full blast-"

"Oh my God," Hermione cried. "Are you…" she squeezed her eyes closed again, "are you serious?"

Ginny nodded slowly. "They're trying everything they can to wake him up right now-"

"He won't wake up?" Hermione asked, like she didn't want to believe what she was hearing.

"I'm sure that Madam Pomfrey and Remus will be able to get him up," Ginny said, trying to reassure both of them.

Hermione laid her head back against the pillows, trying her hardest not to cry.

---

"Severus," Madam Pomfrey said, after she had given him the antidote to the potion. "Severus, wake up."

Nothing happened.  
"Is he up yet?" Remus asked, rushing into the make-shift room.

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "No, but I gave him the antidote."

Remus sighed, "I don't think Hermione is doing too well. She won't have the baby without him there."

The matron shook her head again, "She's going to have to."

"She won't," Remus said. "No one has been able to persuade her."

Poppy looked at the man lying on the bed, his potion-soaked robes lying at the foot of his bed. "Now what should we do with you?" She asked out loud, to no one in particular.

---

"Uncle Harry! Uncle Ron!" Janie exclaimed when the two walked into Madam Pomfrey's office.

"Jaz, what happened?" Harry asked when he saw her hand.

"I hit my hand off of a cauldron," she replied.

"Merlin, that must have hurt," Ron said, trying to get Janie's mind off of the situation at hand. "I remember in my third year, when a dog bit me in the leg."

"Oww," Janie said.

"You know, Jaz," Harry started. "I bet I could heal your hand for you."

Janie looked up at the older wizard, "Really?"

He nodded. "Sure, just let me see your hand."

---

"Hermione, you really need to-"

"I'm waiting for him, and that's that," Hermione forced, a while later.

"Please, Hermione," Ginny pleaded. "I know that you want to wait, but it's only going to get worse if you keep waiting."

Hermione shook her head.

"Hermione, _please_. The longer that you hold the baby in, the more magic you're storing up. The longer that that magic is stored up, the more likely you're going to complicate things."

"He has to be here," Hermione said. "He _needs _to be here! He wasn't here for Janie! I can't let him not be here for Trenton too!"

"Hermione," Ginny began calmly. "It's not his fault that he's like this and it's not yours. I'm sure he'll understand. I'm pretty sure that Snape…er – Severus, would rather have you healthy and the baby healthy when he wakes up than the both of you not able to see him when he gets here."

Tears began to stream down Hermione's face, "It wasn't supposed to be like this…"

Ginny looked like she was going to cry as well, "Things always don't seem to go the way that we want. I'll be right back," she said, walked into the next room, and threw a pinch full of floo powder into the fireplace.

"Remus!" She called, once she saw the Infirmary at Hogwarts.

Remus rushed into view, "What's going on? Did she have the baby?"

"No, she's still refusing to," Ginny said. "Is he up yet?"

"No," Remus said. "We're still trying really hard."

"It's not looking good Remus. She is storing up way too much magic. If she doesn't have the baby soon, I'm going to have to do an emergency cesarean."

"I'll tell Poppy. Maybe a miracle will happen and we can get him up."

"Good luck," Ginny said, and left the floo call.

---

"I don't know what else to try," Madam Pomfrey said, after Remus told her what happened.

"You could always try a bucket of ice cold water," Remus suggested.

"Don't be stupid, Remus – that's so silly," the matron was silent for a moment. "You know, it may be silly enough to work."

As Poppy left to get a bucket of ice water, Remus walked next to Severus' still form.

"Severus," he began. "I know you probably can't hear me, or really know what I'm saying, but you really need to wake up. Hermione's having the baby now, and she really needs you. It's really my fault that you're like this. Please, Severus. If there is anytime in your life that you don't want to miss, it's right now. Many people don't get this opportunity; please wake up. I know that you're probably going to think that I'm a fool for saying this, but I don't care. If you miss this chance, I don't think that I'll ever forgive myself," he said, looking down at Severus' face, when suddenly, he saw his eyes twitch.

"Severus?" Remus asked. "Severus, wake up," he said, shaking his shoulders, as Madam Pomfrey came jogging in with the bucket.

"Poppy, no, he's-" Remus stopped, as the matron threw the entire contents of the bucket on Severus' upper body.

As soon as the water touched him, Severus flew upwards, coughing and spitting the water out.

"Up," Remus finished what he was trying to say.

"Severus!" Poppy exclaimed.

"POPPY!" Severus exclaimed. "What are you _doing_?"

"Hurry up, Severus," she said.

He looked around, "What's going on?"

"Hermione's at St. Mungo's, she's gone into labor-"

Severus flew out of the bed, nearly slipping on the wet floor.

"I'd suggest you hurry," Madam Pomfrey said. "Hermione isn't doing too well right now."

Severus didn't even look back. Instead, he ran to the fireplace, threw the floo powder in, and flooed to the Hospital, soaking wet and all.

---

"Hermione, don't make me start acting like your mother, who by the way, is on the way," Ginny said.

"Severus-"

"Should be here soon," Ginny said. "It's only a matter of time. You're going to have to-" Ginny stopped when the door burst open.

"Severus!" Hermione cried as soon as she saw him. "You're alright! Where's your shirt? Why are you all wet?"

"It's a long story," he replied, walking over to Hermione.

Once he was standing next to her, Hermione reached up, hugged him, and started to cry. "I'm so happy that you're alright."

Ginny quietly left the room for a moment to give the two a second alone. As Ginny was passing the waiting room, she stopped. Mrs. Weasley had just walked in with Hermione's parents, while Eileen, Fred, and George were all gathered in the sitting room. Trying not to be seen, Ginny quickly slipped into a storage room and grabbed a pair of scrubs for Severus to put on.

When she returned, Hermione was still clinging to Severus, only now, he was trying his hardest for Hermione not to pull him onto the bed with her. Suddenly, it dawned on Ginny.

"Professor," Ginny said. "You're going to need to put this on…fast."

Severus went to pull away, but Hermione wouldn't let him go.

"Hermione-"

"Not yet," she said.

"You're choking me," he added.

"Almos-" Hermione stopped, and instead, squeezed him even harder.

"Her…my…knee," Severus chocked out.

"Oh, sorry-"

"You won't be later," Ginny commented, earning a glare from Hermione. "Hurry up and get that on. Just slip it over your clothes."

As soon as Severus took a few steps away, Hermione tried to reach for his hand again, making him pause for a brief moment. While Severus tried to pull on the trousers, he nearly tripped over his own feet twice, because of how nervous he was.

"Aw look," Ginny whispered to Hermione. "He's nervous."

Hermione smacked Ginny.

"What are you taking your feelings out on me for?" Ginny joked. "I'm not the one who did this to you."

---

"Let me see your hand," Madam Pomfrey asked Janie. "Wow, Mr. Potter did a good job, but I still want you to keep a splint on it, until your bones heal fully."

Janie nodded, as the matron put the splint on her wrist.

"And just so you know, your father is alright and should be at the hospital now. Although, I don't know why they didn't just have the baby here…" She said, mumbling the last part.

"I think that they gave the reason why – it was because of Dumbledore. That, and Ginny is her healer," Janie said.

Madam Pomfrey's eyes widened, "That blasted old man."

---

"Jeez Hermione, why don't you just break his hand off already," Hermione's mother said, making Hermione yell at her.

"You look like you're going to faint," Nancy continued, talking to Severus.

"No, I'm-" Severus was cut off as Hermione let out a wail.

"Alright Hermione, you can push now," Ginny said. "And Professor, you might want to kiss your hand goodbye."

"There's other parts that I'm going to kiss goodbye," Hermione gritted.

"You know honey, you said some really funny things the last time," Nancy said. "And when you grabbed the doctor and yelled in her face…even though it wasn't very nice, I had never seen you like that before."

"Mum," Hermione started warningly.

"Push, Hermione," Ginny said.

After a short while later, cries joined in the yelling that was echoing around the room.

"Congratulations, it's a boy!" Ginny exclaimed. "Professor, I need your help for a minute."

Hermione's mum took Severus' spot as soon as he walked away.

Nancy hugged her teary-eyed daughter, "Congratulations, honey. You did wonderfully," she said, and pulled away. "And I thought that Severus looked like he was going to faint before – a minute ago, it looked like he was going to collapse."

A few moments later, Severus walked back, while Mrs. Granger left to tell everybody the news.

Severus sat on the bed's edge, next to Hermione and kissed her. "You were marvelous."

"Despite all of the threats?" Hermione asked sheepishly.

"Of course," he replied. "There were only a few of them anyways…He's beautiful, Hermione."

"Where is he?" Hermione asked.

Severus was quiet for a moment, "Ginny had to take him to the other room…"

Hermione sat up, pin straight.

"_Why_?"

"Something showed up on the body scan-"

"What?" Hermione's voice cracked. "Was it because of me? Because of earlier? What have I do-"

"Sshh. It's not because of earlier," Severus said, wrapping his arms around Hermione tightly. "These things just happen. Mrs. Potter believes that there might be a small hole in his heart," he said, and felt Hermione's hold on him tighten. "She believes that she can heal it, but it can also heal on its own."

"Why is it always us?" Hermione whispered, through her tears.

Severus was silent for a few seconds, "Because fate's a twisted reality. Maybe it threw us this curve, because it knew that we could handle situations like this, rather than someone who can't."

"Still though," Hermione sniffed.

"I know," Severus said, still holding Hermione tightly in his arms.

---

A little over an hour later, Ginny returned to the room, but this time, she was carrying a blue bundle with her.

"Congratulations," Ginny said, smiling.

Hermione looked up, impatience written all over her face.

"I've managed to close the hole in his heart," she said, handing Hermione the bundle. "We'll talk more about this later. For now, I'll give you guys some time alone," Ginny finished and quickly made her way out of the room.

As soon as Hermione looked at Trenton, her eyes started to water. The baby boy looked perfect nestled inside the soft blanket.

"See," Severus began softly. "I told you."

Hermione sniffed out a laugh.

---

"Get out of the way, we want to see our grandson," Eileen said, as she scurried down the hall, almost knocking several healers out of the way, while John Granger followed slowly behind.

"John!" Eileen said, over her shoulder. Luckily, she didn't pay much attention to the 'I-have-never-seen-that-lady-in-my-life-before' look that he was giving her.

A few feet in front of Severus' mother, Nancy Granger popped out of a door.

"How is he, Nancy?"

Nancy smiled, "He's expected to make a full recovery – all he needs now is rest. Eileen, he is such a beautiful baby boy."

"How are they?" She asked, as John walked up to the two.

"Extremely relieved and happy," Nancy replied. "Hermione's holding the baby now."

"Can we?"

Mrs. Granger nodded, "They've had quite some time alone."

Within seconds, Eileen was in the room and standing next to her son. When John walked into the room, Ginny walked out, and made her way down to the waiting room, where the rest of the Weasleys were waiting.

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, as soon as she saw her daughter.

Ginny smiled and looked around.

"Harry and Ron haven't come back yet? Janie's still with them, isn't she?"

Mrs. Weasley stood up and shook her head, "They took her out for something to eat."

"Will they be back soon?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded, "They should be. Is he alright?"

"Yes," Ginny replied. "As of right now, everything is going well."

Her mother sighed in relief. "Thank God," she said and hugged her daughter. "I'm so proud of you, Ginny."

Ginny smiled as her two brothers ran up to them, each with their arms full of stuff.

"Ginny!" The twins exclaimed together. "How is she-"

"Hermione and the baby are doing fine-"

"Excellent!" They exclaimed and took off down the corridor.

"Fred, George!" Ginny called.

"Boys!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"Sorry Mum, can't hear you!" One of the two yelled.

"Will you at least _walk_?" She tried, but they had already turned a corner.

---

"Fred," George stopped. "We forgot to see what room Hermione's in."

Fred's face fell, "Opps."

"Wait a second…isn't that Snape's mum?" George asked.

"Merlin! You're right, George!" Fred said.

After a minute of tinkering with some of their objects, they ran into the room.

"_Congratulations_!" They exclaimed, as confetti burst throughout the room, streamers shot out and hung themselves, while balloons and signs hung themselves – all without making a singe sound.

In the several moments spent in complete silence, the twins were busy admiring their work, while the other four adults stared at them with shocked expressions.

The first one to break the silence was Nancy, who just started to laugh.

"You're Ron's brothers, right?"

Fred and George walked over and shook Mrs. Granger's hand.

"I'm Fred, and he's George."

"Pleased to meet you. You're Hermione's mum, right?"

Nancy nodded.

"Alright, party's over," Ginny announced. "Fred and George-"

"We know-"

"We know…out," the twins said.

"Well, we'll talk to you later," Fred said, as he left the room waving.

"Congratulations," George said on his way out.

As the twins were walking back down the corridor to the waiting room, they saw Janie heading towards them with Harry and Ron close behind.

"Woo! I HAVE A BABY BROTHER!" Janie yelled, as she ran passed, waving her arms in the air.

Once George made it back to the waiting room, he looked at his mother, who sat staring at the wall.

"They didn't listen to you either, did they?" He asked.

Mrs. Weasley shook her head, "Nope."

---

"Umm, Hermione?" Ginny said, poking her head into the doorway.

The two looked up at her.

"You have visitors."

"Who-"

"They're right here," they heard Dumbledore say from outside their door.

"Oh no," Hermione breathed.

"Then move, Albus!"

Severus widened his eyes when he heard McGonagall's voice.

"Minerva-"

"Congratulations!" McGonagall exclaimed, as she scurried into the room, her arms outstretched. "Where is he?"

Dumbledore walked into the room with a broad smile, as McGonagall quickly made her way to the side of Hermione's bed.

"Is he sleeping?" She asked.

"Not anymore," Severus replied tartly.

"Oh…he is so precious!" McGonagall fawned, when she saw him.

"How is he?" Dumbledore asked.

"Ginny said that he should be alright. She was able to heal the hole in his heart. He'll have to be watched for the next few days and have check-ups every month for a year, but he should fine," Hermione replied.

"Albus, look! He just cracked his eyes!" McGonagall said.

Dumbledore rounded the other side of the bed and looked at Trenton. "He really is a gem."

He turned to Severus and patted him on the back, "Congratulations, m'boy. And Hermione," he said, as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Now," he began, after he had settled himself into a chair. "How are you feeling?"

---

Much later that day, the healer that was studying under Ginny poked his head in the room.

"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall?"

Dumbledore looked up. "Oh! Hello, Mr. Sheklery."

"Sorry to intrude, but visiting hours ended…oh wow. They ended about half an hour ago," he informed them, while McGonagall glared at the back of Dumbledore's head.

"Oh yes! I'm terribly sorry…we were just leaving, weren't we, Minerva?"

McGonagall rolled her eyes. "Over an hour ago, Albus."

"Time just slips away!" He said, cheerily. "Congratulations again, Severus and Hermione! We can't wait until you return back to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, as he finally exited the room.

McGonagall smiled. "Congratulations, and sorry that we stayed so long. _Some_ people just can't take a hint," she said, as she left the room.

"Thank God," Hermione said, as soon as the two were completely gone. "We picked St. Mungo's so that he wouldn't stay _this _long."

"At least he won't be back for a while," Severus said.

---

"Ah good morning!" Dumbledore greeted the next morning, once most of the school was in the Great Hall. "I have a very happy announcement to make. Yesterday, Professors Snape welcomed their new baby boy, Trenton. I must say that we are pleased to welcome a baby into the castle – Trenton will be the first in many, many years. When you see them, make sure to congratulate them…I'm sure Professor Snape won't take away points for that!" He finished and sat down back down.

Meanwhile, everyone in the vicinity of Janie turned to look at her.

"Oh boy," Janie mumbled. "It's going to be a long day."

---

After Hermione and Trenton were finally released from St. Mungo's, Severus and Hermione were able to sneak back into the castle during lunch time. Luckily, there weren't any students or staff wandering aimlessly through the corridors. Breathing a sigh of relief once the doors were open, Severus lead them quickly through the Entrance Hall and down the stairs into the dungeon. As it seemed, luck was finally on their side, because Trenton was peacefully sleeping, and therefore, there were no cries to alert any members of the staff.

They rounded the last corner to their quarters, when Severus stopped dead in his tracks. Dumbledore was standing in the middle of the corridor.

With the rest of the staff behind him.

"Severus, why did," she froze when she saw who was blocking their way. "Oh sweet Merlin," she mumbled under her breath.

"Welcome back!" Dumbledore said cheerfully.

Severus stared with wide eyes as the rest of the staff moved forwards, reminding him very much of a stampede.

---

"Hurry up, before they come back," Hermione whispered, when Severus finally got to open their quarters' door.

"They won't be back," Severus began. "They let us go, because I said you were-" He stopped when he opened the door.

"Severus, you stopped aga-Oh my! Dumbledore!" Hermione exclaimed, after she looked inside their quarters.

It seemed that Dumbledore took the opportunity to decorate their quarters with gifts from the students and staff. There were balloons scattered across the room and confetti hovering above their heads.

"I think we need to change the wards again," Hermione murmured, as they walked into the room and closed the door behind them.

---

Trenton was a very happy baby, and according to anyone who visited him, he was also very good.

But they didn't live with him.

For the most part, he _was_ good...except that he loved attention and eating; if he woke and he wasn't getting either, he wailed until he got what he wanted - otherwise, he was quiet. During that time, and for some strange reason, the Slytherin house decided to become very vocal with their problems (Which, actually had nothing to do with the new baby.), and Severus was tempted to lock every one of them up in their dormitories.

A week and a half before break began, Hermione was sitting at the table in their quarters, with a cup of steaming coffee in front of her. She looked up from _The Daily Prophet _when Severus walked into the room and poured himself a cup. Severus watched her as she folded up the newspaper and put her coffee on top of it.

"Anything worth reading?" He asked.

"No," she replied.

Several long moments later, Hermione ran her hands through her hair and looked at Severus, her hands supporting her head. "If you don't write to your mother, Severus, I will."

Severus took a sip of his drink. "You really are pulling for this?"

"I'd ask my mother, but she and my father took a skiing trip before the holidays. I'm just asking for one day. One day before the holidays and it gets really hectic around here. It'd be different if the house elves actually helped…the only one that really _likes_ Trenton is Dobby – and he's on his vacation."

"_Vacation_?"

Hermione shrugged. "That's what he said."

Severus sighed. "I'll write her later today."

Hermione looked up and smiled tiredly at him. "Thank you, Severus."

---

The next morning, Hermione slowly turned around and cracked an eye to see their bedside clock. Once the time registered in her head, she jumped out of bed; Trenton hadn't woke them up crying yet.

When Hermione ran out of the room, her foot got stuck in Severus' shirt and she nearly ended up falling flat on her face. Yet again, she needed to remind him not to leave his shirts on the floor – it wasn't the first time she tripped over one. Quickly recovering, she made her way to Trenton's room and stared into the room – Eileen was feeding him.

Eileen immediately noticed the presence in the doorway. "It's alright, I have him. Go back to sleep."

Hermione nodded, like it took her a second to realize what was going on, before leaving the room.

"I didn't hear him cry," Severus mumbled, once Hermione sat back down on the bed.

"Your mother has him," she replied.

"She…how'd she get in here?" He asked, sitting up.

"Who cares," Hermione said, as she pulled the blankets back over her. "Go back to sleep."

---

"Eileen!" McGonagall greeted, when the woman sat down next to her at the staff table. "And you brought Trenton!"

"Hello, Minerva. Oh yes, I thought that he'd like a change in scenery for a while," she replied.

"Come to visit?"

Eileen nodded. "Before the holidays, seeing as those two are already busy."

"Speaking of 'those two'…where are they?" McGonagall asked.

"Sleeping."

The older woman laughed. "They're what? It's nearly twelve o'clock!"

"I took Trenton this morning…I thought that it'd be nice for them to get some sleep. Poor Hermione looked so disorientated when she came looking for Trenton this morning."

"I don't have a class after this…Eileen, would you like to bring Trenton back to my quarters and we can chat over gingersnaps?"

Eileen looked down at the baby. "I'd love to. I'll just have to stop back at their quarters and grab a few extra things for him."

---

Severus awoke to the sound of Matches meowing. When he opened his eyes, the cat meowed right in his ear and started to pat his face with his paw.

"Alright," he said, and put the cat on the floor. "I'm up."

Once Matches saw that Severus was actually going to get out of bed, he ran from the room and over to his bowl.

"You're hungry?" Severus asked, once he found Matches again.

The cat meowed again and knocked his little dish across the floor.

_I hate cat food_, Severus thought, as he fed the cat. From behind him, he heard the door open.

"Hello, Severus," his mother greeted. "Nice to see you finally up."

Severus blinked at her and went to check the time.

"Six after _twelve_?"

"Yes," Eileen said, and gave Severus his son. "Trenton and I are going to visit McGonagall…I just needed to come back and grab his other bag."

"I've never slept this long before," he mumbled.

"You've never been this busy before," his mother commented, as she threw a few things inside the bag. "Why don't you take it easy today? I have spent hardly any time with my grandson. Take Hermione out for dinner or something. You two have hardly been out of the castle yet."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't! Go and enjoy yourselves!" She exclaimed, as she grabbed Trenton back, bid goodbye, and left.

---

Hermione awoke twenty minutes later with the distinct urge to use the loo. However, once she got up, the door was closed and there was warm air coming from underneath the door. Smirking to herself, Hermione quietly slipped into the room and took out her wand. At the same time as she flicked her wand towards the toilet, she shoved the shower curtain inwards and she heard a hollow "thud."

"What the hell!?" Severus exclaimed, and stuck his head out of the curtain. "Hermione, for Merlin's sake!"

"Oh! Did I scare you?" She asked innocently.

"You scared the shit out of me! I almost slipped on the soap!"

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I had to take a shower," he replied.

"I have to too-"

"Too late," he said, as he turned off the water.

Hermione rolled her eyes, as his hand shot out and grabbed his black towel.

"Hurry up, Severus. I have to use the loo."

He pushed the curtain to the side and stepped out of the tub. "You sure are bossy this afternoon," he smirked. "I see a little rest did you well."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "We can talk after I use the loo-"

"One more thing," he said, walking towards her. "What are you doing later?"

Hermione thought for a second. "Am I supposed to do something?"

"My mother has Trenton for the day."

"The _entire_ day?" Hermione asked.

He nodded, making her eyes go wide.

"Because I was wondering if you wanted to go out…get _away _from the castle."

Hermione smiled. "I would love that."

"Good-"

"Now get out and let me use the loo," she said, as she pushed him out of the room.

"Yes, your highness," he said sarcastically from the other side of the door.

---

"So where are we going?" Hermione asked, once she was ready to go.

"It's a surprise," he stated.

"A surprise that you should share with me," she said, smiling.

"Well, I can tell you the first part."

Hermione's face lit up.

"But the second part is a _complete_ surprise, and you can't know until it happens."

Hermione crinkled her nose.

"No hints?"

"Nope," he said, as he opened their quarter's door for her, and they finally left.

---

"Alright," Hermione said, shrinking more bags down, and putting them into her pocket. "I think we might have everyone done."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Finally?"

Hermione thought for a moment, "Oh! Janie could use a few more sweaters! We just got her pants…she's outgrowing the arms on her sweaters. She made a few comments about them being too short."

Severus swallowed. "Back to clothes shopping?"

Hermione nodded, "Yep! And you know what, why don't we grab a few things while we're there too?"

Severus eyed her carefully.

"C'mon, we'll go down this way," Hermione said, as she started to walk down towards one of the only stores that Severus definitely didn't want to go in.

---

"Hermione-"

"What about this one?" She asked, pulling at a long sleeved shirt.

Severus shrugged, while looking around.

Hermione let go of the shirt. "You're not going to find anybody you know here."

"Says you," he mumbled.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and went back to looking through the shirts, before finally pulling one out.

"Now we can get something for you."

His eyes widened. "I'm fine."

"A new shirt to wear for Christmas-"

"I have plenty," he replied.

"You can have one more. You know, a nice silver one would be wonderful to wear to the Burrow," Hermione said, making her way towards the men's section.

"I-"

"Don't object, until you see what I have in mind," she said, as they crossed the isle and stopped right in front of the dress shirts.

"Let's see…" Hermione trailed off, looking around. "There we go," she said, making her way to a section of the shirts.

She looked around for a minute or so, while Severus watched her. Finally, she pulled out a silver button-down shirt.

"There we go!" She said, handing it to Severus.

"It's silk," he stated.

"So? Men wear them. All of the wizards in magazines wear them. It's a really nice shirt, Severus."

He surveyed her, before reaching out and grabbing it. "Alright."

"Thank you-"

"Hermione!" Someone exclaimed from behind them, making Severus' eyes widen to golf balls.

Hermione wheeled around to see Ron heading straight for them…and if her eyes were correct, there was also a girl trailing him.

"Professor! I never imagined seeing you two here!"

"Neither did we," Severus grumbled.

"What're you doing here?" Ron asked, smiling.

"Finishing up with Christmas shopping," Hermione replied.

Ron's eyebrows rose. "Did you get me anything?"

"Maybe. If I told you now though, it'd ruin the surprise."

"Yeah, yeah," Ron said. "And Hermione, Professor, I'd like you to meet Kim."

"Hello," Hermione said warmly, while Severus only nodded.

"Kim, this is my best friend Hermione, and her husband, Severus Snape," Ron introduced.

Hermione smiled and looked at Ron knowingly.

"She's my girlfriend…but you can't tell anybody yet!" Ron said, looking in between the two. "No one in my family knows it yet."

Hermione smiled again. "I won't tell anyone. My lips are sealed."

Ron smiled back. "They'd have a field day, you know?"

"All too well," Hermione replied. "I mean, your family jumped on me when your mother announced that I was pregnant."

"That's because you're like a daughter to her, Hermione. You really are."

Hermione's cheeks started to turn pink. "Well, sorry to cut this short, but we really must get going. I think if Severus stands here any longer, he'll pass out from the embarrassment that he might actually see somebody else."

Ron looked over at Severus. "You better hurry, Hermione. I think he's getting paler. We'll have to go out for lunch one day, Hermione. The six of us. Harry doesn't know yet either."

"That'd be lovely," Hermione replied, as Ron hugged her goodbye.

"I'll see you then," he bid, and then nodded at Severus.

"Nice to meet you, Kim," Hermione said, while Severus turned around, ready to walk away.

"Likewise," Kim nodded.

Once the two were out of earshot, and standing in line, Severus turned to Hermione.

"The _six_ of us? Surely he was kidding."

Hermione shook her head. "Of course he wasn't. You are with me, which also means that you are now with us."

"If I knew that before," he started jokingly.

"You would have killed Harry and Ron," she supplied for him. "Because we all know that you can't resist me."

Severus raised an eyebrow at her; Hermione smirked in return.

**A/N: If anybody is interested, I have already updated TLH's website with some insight on the next chapter. You can find the link as the homepage on my profile. Also, if anyone is interested and has a Facebook, I've made a flair for this story. (If you want it, all you have to do is type **_**The Last Heir**_** in the search box.)**

**Thanks again to all of your continued support – it really does mean a lot! And it's also really appreciated!**

**Next up: Unexpected visitors before Christmas and Christmas time at the Burrow, where Ron sort-a has a cow. Who spills the beans now?**


	34. Let it Snow and the Stories Roll

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_ nor am I making any money off of this; J.K. Rowling does.**

**In honor of today being Janie's (fictional) birthday, I 'put the pedal to the medal' (corny, I know), and finished the chapter.**

---

"_You would have killed Harry and Ron," she supplied for him_._ "Because we all know that you can't resist me_._"_

_Severus raised an eyebrow at her_; _Hermione smirked in return._

---

"Am I correct in guessing that it's time for my surprise?" Hermione asked hopefully, once they were walking down the row of shops again.

"It might be," Severus said. "Although, I don't believe that it's quite dark enough for it yet."

Hermione pouted. "Not dark enough yet? Are they fireworks?"

He shook his head. "We'll need to go back to Hogwarts to drop our belongings off," he paused for a moment. "And change."

"'Change'? Where are we going?"

A smile pulled at his lips. "It's a secret."

"Change into what?"

"Nicer clothes," he replied.

"Nicer? Like dress clothes?"

He just stared at her.

"Severus Snape, where are we going out for dinner that we have to dress that nicely?"

"Dinner? Who said anything about dinner?" He asked lightheartedly.

She stopped walking and crossed her arms. "I'm not that stupid. And real dress clothes?"

He nodded.

"But Severus," Hermione whined. "I haven't lost all of the baby fat yet!"

Severus blinked at her.

"You look fine, Hermione."

"You're supposed to say that," she retorted, and started to walk again.

"No I'm not. If I knew it would upset you that much, I wouldn't have made reservations."

Hermione instantly perked up. "Reservations?"

"It gets crowded at night. I made them this morning. You'll look fine in whatever you wear," he said, and pulled her into an alley.

"Severus, what are you-" she was cut off when he grabbed her hand and apparated her back to Hogwarts.

---

"I'm assuming that you have something to wear," Severus said, once they were outside of their quarters' door.

"Of course," Hermione replied, when he opened the door.

Eileen looked up. "Back so soon?"

"No," Severus began. "We came to drop a few things off."

"Well, don't mind me," she said, turning back to her book. "I'm just reading. Trenton is sleeping…I guess I really tired him out today."

Severus emptied out his pockets, as Hermione rushed off to check on Trenton.

Eileen laughed. "I remember the first time that I really left you alone with your grandmother," she stopped and then waved her hand. "That's for another time. Go and get ready."

---

"Are you ready?" Severus asked, once they were at the apparition part outside of Hogwarts.

"Yes," Hermione replied, and grabbed his hand.

A few seconds later, Hermione felt the familiar feeling of apparition and when it stopped, she opened her eyes and gasped.

"Is this where I think it is?" She exclaimed.

He nodded.

"I can't believe you brought me back to Rome!" She said, and hugged him.

"You did say that you wanted to come back one day."

Hermione's smile reached from ear to ear.

"Let's go. The reservation is in ten minutes. I figured you'd enjoy a walk past the fountain again."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Really?"

He nodded.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Hermione asked, as she slipped her hand into his and they walked down the street.

---

"You have more in store?" Hermione asked, after they had left the resturant.

He smirked. "I might."

"Where are we going?"

He pointed down the street. "Down there."

"Where down there?"

Severus then pointed to a distant hill. "Then up there."

"Up there?"

"Yes," Severus replied. "I believe that with a warming spell, we should be fine."

"What's up on the hill?"

"You'll see," he said simply.

The two walked up the streets in Rome, while Hermione marveled at the beautiful lights.

"Warming spell working alright?" Severus asked.

Hermione nodded. "What's up on the hill?"

"Something that you're only going to see here," he replied.

"Another monument?"

He shook his head. "You can come and see a monument anytime. This is different," he said, as they made it to the top of the hill.

Hermione looked around. "Severus, there's nothing up here. It's a hill with a path and a few benches."

He smirked. "Look up."

Hermione looked up just in time to see something shooting across the sky. "Is that a..." She trailed off.

"A meteor?"

She nodded.

"Oh...I guess tonight is the same night as the Empyrean Meteor Shower," Severus said casually.

Hermione turned to look at him. "You-"

"Surprise," he said, smirking once again.

---

The rest of the school went out very smoothly, especially since the Slytherins had calmed down (only after Severus had threatened them all about Christmas). Before they knew it, break had finally started, and it was once again time to decorate the house. Severus and Hermione set out earlier than usual to pick the perfect Christmas tree, but that was only until Harry and Ron had un-expectantly shown up and bombarded them with snow balls. Severus was far from pleased.

Once they had finally ushered Harry and Ron back into the house, they were quite happy to stay with Janie and Trenton, than to try to start another snow ball fight. After they had finally finished setting up all of their Christmas decorations and Harry and Ron had left, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Hermione called, and shifted Trenton around, so that she could answer the door.

Hermione opened the door to see a man that she had never seen before, but she couldn't help to notice that he oddly resembled Severus.

"Hello," Hermione greeted. "Can I help you?"

"Hello," the older man replied, his eyes searching the background, before settling on Trenton. "Is Severus there?" He asked slowly.

Hermione's eyes lingered on the man for a few seconds, before calling over her shoulder. "Severus, there's someone at the door for you."

"Who is it?" He called back.

"I don't know," she replied, a bit hesitantly.

Within seconds, Severus was heading towards the door, one hand securely around his wand - the other holding a glass ball. However, as soon as he saw who was standing at the door, he froze and dropped the ball, which shattered all over the floor. After he quickly regained his composure, he made his way behind Hermione and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't you go and wait for me in the kitchen," he said evenly.

Hermione looked at him and once she saw that he wouldn't take his eyes off of the man, she left without a question.

"What are you doing here?" Severus asked dangerously.

"Can I come in? It's awfully cold outside," the man replied.

"How did you get here?" Severus asked, once the door was shut.

"Why aren't you at Spinner's End anymore?" The man asked curiously.

"I don't have a life there anymore," Severus replied calmly. "There was no reason to stay."

"You moved to your grandmother's. You don't remember coming here, do you?" The man asked.

Severus stared at the man.

"Of course not. You were far too young," he said softly.

"How did you get here?" Severus repeated for the third time.

"Dumbledore," the man stated.

"Where is he?"

"He said that he was going to go through the back and 'visit.' I asked him if he could take me to you," the man said.

"Why? What are you doing here?" Severus gritted. "What do you want?"

The man looked right at him. "Really now, Severus. That's no way to treat your father."

Severus' nostrils flared. "Father?" He hissed quietly. "Since when were you ever a father to me?"

"You were too young to know everything," he said. "That's why I'm here. I need to talk to you. Please, Severus."

Severus surveyed him critically, before walking down the hall. "We'll talk in here."

His father followed him to a sitting room that had a fire going.

"Give me your coat," Severus said. "I'll hang it up and I'll be right back. Don't leave the room," he said, and disappeared to leave his father to look around the room.

---

Hermione stopped in her tracks when she walked into the kitchen; sitting at the kitchen table were Dumbledore and Janie.

"Albus! What are you doing here?"

Dumbledore looked up and smiled at her. "Hello Hermione! It's certainly looking like the holidays around here!"

"Professor Dumbledore is helping me make the cookies," Janie replied happily. "But he said that they need lemon drops for eyes..."

Dumbledore stood up. "I brought Severus an old friend over."

Hermione looked at him, her unspoken question written all over her face. Dumbledore nodded in understanding, making Hermione's eyes widen.

"Janie, why don't you show Professor Dumbledore the library? I'm sure he would love it."

Dumbledore's eyes popped open. "You have a library?"

Hermione nodded.

"Oh! Who am I questioning? Of course you and Severus would have a library!"

"It's a huge library, Professor!" Janie exclaimed. "And I can show you what my dad did to my room on the way up!"

---

"Janie," Dumbledore said, stopping her from walking up the stairs. "Go ahead without me for a minute – I'll find you. As long as you're not too old for a little game of hide-and-seek?"

"As long as you don't ask anyone where I am," Janie replied.

"Promise," Dumbledore said.

"Good," Janie smiled and ran up the stairs.

It seemed like Janie wasn't even gone for a second, before Severus rounded the corner.

"Dumbledore!"

"Severus-"

"What is he doing here?" Severus demanded, pointing towards the direction he just appeared from.

Dumbledore held up a hand, "He came to me, looking for you. He was quite adamant about speaking with you. I meet with him yesterday and we had a nice little chat," he paused to look Severus straight in the eye. "Please talk to him, Severus. What he did while you were growing up was terrible, but I'm telling you to just talk. Please, give him and chance and just listen.

"Now, please excuse me. I must go and find your daughter now," Dumbledore finished, turned around, and started to walk up the staircase. "I'm coming, Janie!"

---

Tobias looked up when his son walked into the room.

"I didn't leave," his father said, a small smile appearing on his lips. "Who is Dumbledore visiting?"

Severus crossed his arms, "Why are you here?"

"To talk to you. To explain things," he replied.

"Why now? After all those years?"

"I was arrested several years ago, after getting into a bar fight. After looking at my record, they cut me a deal. See, by then I was friends with the police officer who responded to the fight. They told me that I could either go to jail or to a special center for rehabilitation. I really didn't want to go to jail, so you could only guess which one I chose.

"I was in and out of there for a long time. It wasn't until they sat me down with a bunch of people who were just like me, did I really stick to going. Listening to the people made me remember the look on your face that one Christmas…and the time I locked you outside. I realized how terrible I was to you.

"During my treatment, they told me to pick one person that I wanted to make amends with and to do it. Only one person came to my mind – you," he said, pointing at his son.

"My mother-"

His father sighed. "She knew what was going on. She even tried to stop me and fix everything. She tried so hard, Severus. And it took me nearly thirty years to realize it." He was quiet for several long moments.

"But nearing the end of my treatment, one of my friends at the place was reading a newspaper and read something with the name Snape in it. Imagine my surprise when I read a wedding announcement about a 'Severus Snape marrying a Hermione Granger.' After reading that, I knew that I had to speak with you."

"And you thought that speaking with me would fix everything?" Severus asked. "Do you know what you put me through?"

"It's more than what happened growing up, isn't it?"

"Want to know what you put me through? That was Hermione with our son at the door. Do you know how many sleepless nights I had, wondering…hoping that I wouldn't turn out like you? And before that with my daughter. Did you know how afraid I was that she would hate me, just because of who I am? It was terrible and I'm glad that I'm over it – I wouldn't wish it upon anybody."

His dad looked thoughtful, before looking back up at Severus. "I don't think that you would have turned out like me, Severus. You are nothing like I was. You had a mother who loved you more than anything and that friend – the one who you always used to hang around with.

"See, this is what I've come to explain to you. What happened when you were little. Things were well, until the company I worked for closed, and I had to work at the industry. There were many people working there at the time, and you had to be an excellent worker to pull any sort of hours, because the pay was terrible. Why don't you sit down?"

Severus eyed the man with short, white hair.

"Please, Severus. You're making me uneasy."

Raising an eyebrow, Severus sat on the couch across from him.

"As it turned out, I was one of the only workers at the industry who knew how to do what I did – imagine that. It was a hard job, and I quickly found that they needed me more than I thought. To relieve the pressure, me and a few other guys would go out drinking at night. Soon, that turned into a habit and before I knew it, it turned into the only way out of my problems.

"It was alright in the beginning...of working, but the pay was too lousy for what I was doing. As time went on, everything just seemed to get more complicated. Then I remembered that your grandmother had money and I became angered. Your mother had it easy – she came from money. But I knew that as long as I was around, your grandmother wouldn't lend us any money. She found out that I started to drink and refused to help. She was afraid that I would waste it all.

"When school rolled around for you, all of our money went towards that. In fact, I even believe Eileen home-schooled you for a while. Then you went to that boarding school and for your second year, your grandmother picked up the tuition. They only wanted the best for you. In the end, I believed that without me, you and Eileen would be better off. I guess by that time, you had already run off and joined that little group of yours."

"So what you're saying is that it took until recently to realize everything that happened when I was little," Severus said slowly.

"It has been on my mind now and then. I always tried to avoid it. I came to say that I was and still am…sorry. I'm sorry for everything I put you through now and then. I'm sorry for everything I did. Dumbledore also told me that you went through a war. And from what he said, I couldn't be prouder of you. I've waited for a while for this. I know that you may never forgive me – I don't blame you in the slightest. Hearing all those people made me face reality and showed me what I missed out on all my life. I treated my greatest treasure as my greatest quandary."

---

"And this, is the library," Janie said, opening the doors to their library.

"This is the library?"

Janie nodded eagerly.

"My word! Severus should have mentioned this! As a matter of fact, he never even mentioned that he had a library!"

"It's alright," Janie said. "He neglected to tell my mum about the ball room until summer-"

"Ball room?" Dumbledore asked, his eyebrows shooting up into his hat.

"Yeah," Janie said, as Dumbledore went off to examine the books.

"My word!" He exclaimed again, a few minutes later. "There are only three of these in the world! Severus…well, I should have known that he'd get his hands on one of these somehow."

Janie looked up and her eyes immediately widened. "There are only a few things that I'm not allowed to touch in the house and that is one of them."

Dumbledore chuckled. "I don't even want to touch it. I'm sure that Severus has several charms on it…and I wouldn't want to set them off," he said, as he took out his wand and started to wave it around.

"Professor…"

"There we go," he said, and carefully opened the book. "It's everything I expected and more…it's incredible."

Janie regarded her Professor with caution; he was suddenly acting very strange.

"Well, I better get this back," he said, more to himself than anybody. After he put the book back and restored the wards, Dumbledore turned to Janie, "Please don't tell your father."

Janie smiled. "My lips are sealed."

"Well, I guess I'd better get back downstairs. There are a few more things that I need to discuss with him."

---

Severus stared at Tobias for several long moments, before they heard Dumbledore.

"Severus! Ah! There you are!" He said, and walked into the room.

"Dumbledore," Severus greeted blandly.

Tobias looked at Severus. "Who did you say that Dumbledore was visiting again?"

"I didn't."

Seeing that they weren't finished, Dumbledore started to edge towards the exit of the room.

"You're already here, Albus," Severus said. "He was visiting my family," he stated, crossing his arms.

Tobias' eyebrows rose. "You said something about a son…and a daughter?"

"Janie and Trenton," he said.

"Oh! How old are they?"

"Janie is thirteen and Trenton is five weeks-"

"You just had a baby?" Tobias asked.

Severus stared at him. "Five weeks."

"Come now!" Dumbledore said, trying to alleviate the tension. "It's the holiday season! Let's be happy for what we have! I think it would be an excellent time to have some tea. Anybody else fancy a spot of tea?" He asked, but it remained silent. "I'll take that as a 'yes' then. And while we enjoy our tea, we can continue our discussion and perhaps...invite some people."

"Severus, do you have any place that we-"

"The main living area," he replied, and the led the way to another room.

"The kitchen-"

"I'll just summon the tea," Dumbledore said, and with a wave of his wand, a tea pot with four cups came zooming towards him. In a matter of seconds, he already had the tea ready.

---

"Back so soon?" Hermione asked when she walked back into the kitchen and found Janie.

"Yeah," Janie replied. "Do we have any lemon drops?"

"No," Hermione replied. "Where's Dumbledore?"

She shrugged. "He said that he had to talk to dad and then the tea pot just zoomed out of the room a minute ago. Who else is here? Four cups went with it."

"Four?" Hermione echoed. "I'll go find out."

---

"Ah yes," Dumbledore said, after he took a sip of his tea. "As I was saying...Hermione!"

Severus' head immediately snapped up, but didn't see her anywhere.

Hermione's head poked through a door, "Hello, Albus."

"Please come and join us, my dear! Have some tea, I have an extra cup."

Hermione glanced at Severus, before walking in the room and sitting down next to him.

"Here," Dumbledore said, and handed her a cup. "I'm glad that you can join us."

Hermione smiled at him, while Severus glared.

"Hermione, this is...my father," Severus began, saying the last words slowly, as if not sure he was picking the right ones. "And his is my wife, Hermione," he finished. Introducing people like this was near the top of his most-despised things list.

Hermione gave a small smile. "Nice to meet you-"

"Tobias."

"It's nice to meet you, Tobias."

He smiled back. "It's very nice to meet you, Hermione. I must say, I was quite shocked to hear of the wedding – my friend showed the announcement to me...it was in a newspaper."

"Oh...my parents are mu-they're not magical. You must live somewhere near them. They only sent the announcement in to the local paper. We really didn't want the wizarding reporters to pick it up so quickly. Luckily, they didn't."

"Oh yes...you're both war heroes, right?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed they are. They've both received the highest awards for their services too."

"You know, I must say that I never really would have pegged Severus to get involved with any type of war," Tobias commented.

"He had one of the most influential roles out there," Dumbledore supplied. "He is definitely one of the best. Hermione is as well."

Hermione glanced at Dumbledore, before looking at Severus; he looked like her was going to get up and murder the Headmaster.

"Mum, you haven't come back yet, so I thought I'd bring you some cookies..." Janie trailed off when she saw who was in the room and the look that her father was giving her. If she could have, she would have dropped the cookies and fled from the room, just from the look alone.

"I'll come back la-" Janie stopped.

"You can come in," Severus said slowly.

"I don't want to-"

"Nonsense," Dumbledore said, and motioned towards Janie with his hand. "Come in. I would love to have one of those cookies. Did you use any lemon drops?"

"No, I couldn't find any," Janie replied.

"You should have asked!" The older man said. "I have a whole bag in my pocket!"

"You should have told me earlier, Professor," Janie smiled. "Besides, my dad wouldn't eat a cookie, because he hates lemon drops."

Dumbledore glanced at Severus, who looked even more murderous than before.

Janie also kept her eyes on her father's face as she set the tray down and sat next to him. Afterwards, she let her eyes travel to the other person in the room, where they froze.

"Hello," the person said.

"Hi," Janie said slowly. "You look a lot like...Oh."

Severus had the distinct urge to slap himself in the forehead.

"Janie," Severus began through nearly clenched teeth.

Dumbledore sent him a look that said, 'You-better-knock-it-off.'

"Janie, this is your grandfather," he finally said.

Janie just looked between all of the adults in the room.

"Really?" She asked.

Two heads nodded.

Janie turned to Severus. "Then why do you say 'I don't know' or 'Don't ask me now' when I ask about him? I mean, I see my grandmother-"

"You've seen Eileen?" Tobias asked, his eyes widening.

Janie looked at him. "Yeah...not too long ago. She was at Hogwarts."

"How is she?" He asked slowly.

"She's fine," Severus replied evenly.

"Janie, why don't you tell him about school?" Hermione suggested.

Janie instantly brightened. "Alright! Well, everybody says that I'm at the top of my class, but I don't think about it too much. I'm in Gryffindor...everybody was shocked, because my dad's a Slytherin, but my mum's a Gryffindor, so it evens out. My favorite class is Potions..."

They listened to Janie talk about school for a little while longer, until she jumped up and ran out to retrieve a few picture albums.

"Here, look," she said, sitting down next to Tobias. "This one is from the wedding."

Tobias looked through the album with interest, until he came to a familiar picture.

"Is that your grandmother?" He asked.

Janie nodded. "Yes, that's her."

The older man remained quiet and when they finished looking through the album, Janie brought out another one from over the past year; it ranged from pictures from Harry's wedding to pictures over the past summer. After they were through with that one, Janie grabbed another one, which made Hermione's eyes widen.

As Tobias flipped through the book, his look went from interested to confused. Finally, he looked up at Severus, who was staring at the ground.

"Severus, why aren't you in any of these?" He asked, as he flipped through a few more pages.

Right when Severus looked up, he heard Hermione.

"It was a tough time," she began. "The war...Since Severus was a spy for our side, if the other side found out that he had a child, it would have been extremely dangerous."

"The war lasted that long?"

"No...but it was a while before all of Voldemort's supporters were caught. He was the one that the war was against. In fact, it wasn't...too...long ago that the last of his supporters were put away."

"Did those supporters come after Severus?"

Hermione paused.

"Yes," Severus replied.

Tobias looked taken back. "What'd in the world did they want?"

"Revenge," he said.

"Did they hurt you?"

"Nothing that couldn't be fixed."

Dumbledore and Hermione narrowed their eyes at him.

"Dad," Janie began. "I thought you were in a lot of trouble! He almost killed you!"

Tobias' eyes widened.

"I was so worried about the two of you!"

"She went through it too?" Tobias asked.

"They kidnapped me!" Janie exclaimed. "From school!"

"I thought you were supposed to be wizards or s-"

"It's all in the past now," Severus interrupted. "Luckily, everyone made it out alright. We're here now…that's all that matters."

"Lucius Malfoy didn't make it out alright," Janie said. "His wand backfired…it was in the papers."

Severus went to open his mouth again, when Hermione laid a hand on his knee. "How about dinner?"

Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "I think that's a wonderful idea...I'm famished."

Hermione smiled. "I'm afraid that dinner isn't cooked yet, but there's a nice restaurant in London that we know."

"That will be just fine," Dumbledore said. "I assume that we need to apparate?"

"Unless you want to walk for hours," Severus remarked dryly.

---

All in all, dinner went rather well, except for the fact that Hermione had stayed home with Trenton. Before they left the restaurant, it was agreed (after Dumbledore's meddling) that Dumbledore would bring Tobias back to spend New Years at the manor. The twinkling-eyed man had at first tried to get Christmas morning in the deal, but Tobias was rather reluctant when Janie said that Eileen would be coming over.

The next few days passed quickly and everyone woke to a snowy Christmas morning. Eileen came over bright and early, and brought with her a big bag of gifts for everyone. She left a few hours later though, because she didn't want to go to the Burrow.

---

"Happy Christmas!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, once she opened the door.

"Merry Christmas," Hermione replied, and went to hug her, but the older woman had stopped her.

"Is Trenton awake?"

"Oh...yes. We couldn't get him to fall back asleep," Hermione replied, while Mrs. Weasley was already reaching for the little bundle.

"Happy Christmas, Severus. Happy Christmas, Janie," Molly greeted, and once they had said their replies, she led them into the house. "Before I forget, are you coming over again for New Years?"

"No," Hermione replied. "Severus has...family coming over to our house in the morning."

"Eileen?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"No," Severus said, ending the conversation.

---

"Alright, it's time to open gifts now!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, as all of the children went running towards the tree.

Hermione watched as everyone gathered around the tree, and started to ravage through the large piles. Suddenly, Harry and Ron stood up and walked over to the tree. Ron picked up the steady-growing pile of gifts on the floor, while Harry walked behind the tree and picked up a large wrapped box. Before she knew it, they had set everything down in front of Hermione and Severus.

"What is this?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"Trenton's Christmas presents," Ron replied.

Hermione looked shocked.

"But he was just born! The baby shower-"

"And this is Christmas!" Harry interrupted. "C'mon, the big one is from Ron and I. We have to see your faces when you open it."

Hermione looked at the two, "It better not be a broomstick."

Harry laughed. "That's another year."

She glared at him.

"Just open it," Ron said. "It has nothing to do with Quidditch."

"And Professor Snape has to help too," Harry added, making Severus roll his eyes.

"Alright," Hermione said laughing, from how antsy Harry and Ron were looking and started to open the gift.

Hermione's eyes grew twice their size when she saw what it was – "My First Potions Play Set." She looked up at the two – their smiles were wide enough to cover the whole room. When Hermione glanced back at the box, she burst out laughing; the two had taped a picture of Severus on the box, next to the picture of the set.

Ron smiled. "I'm glad you like it!"

"And Trenton can use it before he starts to walk!"

"See," Ron started, pointing at the box, "the tabletop pops off and you can set it on the floor. Not only that, but it's all plastic, so it's safe and easy to clean!"

"And everything is kid safe! The plastic cutting tools are all charmed to only 'cut' the objects in the kit. And when he can walk, you can put the top right back on top of the little work bench," Harry added.

Hermione looked between the two and smiled. "You do know that he's not even two months yet, right?"

They nodded.

"Oh yeah," Harry said. "We thought about that. It's better to get it now though, so he can enjoy it longer!"

"Besides," Ron continued. "Professor Snape might want to make sure it's safe enough for Trenton to use."

Hermione chuckled. "He'd probably somehow use all of the stuff before Trenton is old enough to hold a little beaker."

Severus rolled his eyes as she stood up.

"Thank you guys so much," Hermione said, and hugged them.

When Severus was about to stand up, Ginny ran over with another big package in her arms.

"Hey! You guys didn't wait for me!" She exclaimed, and set the package down in front of them. "Here, this is from me. Harry and Ron made a big stink about me getting in on their present. They wouldn't even tell me what it was."

"You really didn't have to, Ginny," Hermione said.

She smiled, "I know. But I wanted too. He's my godson, isn't he? Now open the present."

When Hermione turned around, Severus was already trying to peek into the package.

"You can open it, Severus," Hermione said, making him snap his head up.

"I was waiting for you," he replied innocently.

"Oh my God!" Hermione exclaimed when she saw what it was. "This is the biggest bear that I've ever seen! Thank you so much, Ginny," she said, and hugged her friend.

"And this is for you," she said, handing Hermione a red envelope.

"What in the world are you going to do with that?" Ron asked, pointing at the bear and Ginny elbowed him. "He's over a month, remember?"

"I'll take good care of it until he can have it, then," Hermione said.

"You're not going to sleep with it, are you?"

"I might," she replied.

"No you're not," Severus stated.

Hermione looked at him, "Why not?"

"There won't be room for me then," he said.

"There's room on the floor," Hermione said lightheartedly.

"Why don't I get a red card?" Ron asked, while Severus shot Hermione a look.

"Because these are special cards," Ginny said simply.

"And I'm not?"

"You're my brother."

"So I'm not special?" Ron asked.

Ginny smiled as she walked past him and waved another red envelope. "I have to give this to mum."

Ron glared at her. "I see how it is, Gin!"

He waited until his sister was safely gone, before turning back to Hermione. "What's in it?"

"It's my gift," Hermione said teasingly.

"So! Snape's gonna see it," Ron pointed out.

"C'mon Ron," Harry said. "I've got another gift for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he said, as he dragged Ron away. "It's a green envelope."

"That's not funny, Harry," Ron remarked dryly.

Hermione waited for them to leave, before opening the card. She quickly glanced up to make sure that Ron wasn't going to run over, when she saw Mrs. Weasley opening the card too. As soon as she read what was on the card, she jumped up and started looking for Ginny; not surprisingly, her mother did the same.

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed. "What's in those cards?"

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley called, looking everywhere for her.

"She's in the kitchen!" Hermione said, once she saw a glimpse of red hair turn the corner.

Harry, Ron, and Severus watched as Mrs. Weasley and Hermione raced each other towards the kitchen.

"Stop, Ginny!" They heard Hermione yell.

"Ginevra!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, and they heard footsteps stomping up the stairs.

Some of the members in the room stopped their conversations to see what was going on, but once they noticed that nothing was happening in the room, they returned to what they were doing. Severus, Ron, and Harry on the other hand, all ran to the doorway.

The next time Mrs. Weasley shrieked, everyone in the room went silent, "My baby is having a baby!"

All of the heads in the room turned towards Harry.

"Umm…Hi," he said, smiling.

In less than a second, everyone in the room had swarmed him, except Severus, who waited for Hermione to return. When he saw them appear from the staircase, Mrs. Weasley was guiding Ginny back to the room.

"They're all going to hoard me, Mum," Ginny complained. "That's why I gave you and Hermione the cards!"

Hermione smiled when she walked back into the room and handed Severus the card.

"Ginny, help me!" Harry exclaimed, making everyone turn around and run at Ginny.

"Hey! Why didn't I get a card?" Ron whined again. "Why did mum and Hermione get one?"

Ginny smiled, "Because Hermione's the godmother-"

"Hey!" Fred and George said at the same time. "And we're chopped liver?"

"Don't 'hey' me!" Ginny exclaimed. "Out of all of you, I'm no one's godmother! Hermione made me a godmother! She's not even family!"

"You can be my kid's godmother!" Ron exclaimed.

"You're not even dating! And you're Janie's godfather!"

"Yeah, but she has two."

"Now that's just being selfish," Hermione remarked.

Ron's cheeks turned pink when he realized that Hermione had heard. "Sorry, Hermione," he mumbled.

"I didn't even tell him that we're having twins yet," Ginny said.

"Twins?" Ron repeated.

"Yes!" Fred and George exclaimed, and high-fived each other.

"So that's only one godparent!"

"I never said we picked them all! I just knew that I wanted Hermione to be one," Ginny replied.

"Once you decide on one," Charlie said. "You end up picking them all."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I picked two and Harry picked two people. But I'm not announcing the other three, until I ask them."

Ron pouted for a second, before he turned to Severus. "You're a legilimens, right? Read her mind!"

Severus crossed his arms. "I don't think so."

He turned to Hermione. "You're married to him – I bet you can read minds too."

Hermione glared at him, "You're getting greedy."

"You can read my mind, Professor," Harry said.

"I'd rather not," Severus replied.

"Please," Harry asked.

"Why?"

"Just-"

"No," he reinforced.

"Hermione, read my mind."

"Harry-"

"Please?" Harry pleaded.

"Alright…" she trailed off.

"See?" Harry asked, after Hermione was done.

"Read his mind, Severus," Hermione said.

"Hermione-"

"Read it," she commanded.

He sighed. "Alright."

After Severus was done prodding through Harry's mind, he just stared at him.

Harry smiled and stuck his hand out for Severus to shake. "How about it, Professor?"

Severus surveyed the man and knew he wasn't lying. "Alright," he said and shook Harry's hand. "I'd be hon-" Severus was cut off when Harry pulled him forwards and gave him a friendly hug.

When Ron saw this, his jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Hermione _and_ Snape?"

Harry turned to Ron. "Then I guess you don't want to know that you're the only other person I picked."

Ron's face turned to pure glee and jumped on Harry. "I LOVE YOU, HARRY!"

Harry laughed, "How could I not pick my best friend?"

"I must say Harry, you had me scared!"

Harry smirked. "Besides Ginny, you're the only other Weasley that I'm really close to!"

"What about your cousin?"

Harry laughed again. "I actually saw him a few months ago in London. He saw me and practically ran the other way."

"What'd you think they do if you showed up on their doorstep?"

"Probably die," Harry replied.

---

A few days after the New Year, Janie invited Ardeal over; luckily, it was also the day that Dumbledore needed Severus' help with updating the castle's spells. Lyss and Matt were over at their grandmother's for a past due visit and Hermione had no problem with Ardeal coming over.

"Hey Ardeal," Janie greeted, when he walked into her movie room. "I thought you were coming by floo."

He rolled his eyes. "Until my mum wanted to meet yours."

"Your mum's here?"

He nodded. "She was really anxious to meet one of my friends' parents. It's the first time that she can really do this...it's the first time I'm at school and she already knew everybody I grew up with. And your mum being my professor makes everything even better."

Janie laughed. "You're lucky my dad's not here."

He gave a small smile. "Yeah," he said and then paused. "Oh great," he muttered, "my mum's talking about embarrassing things."

"You want to go outside?" Janie asked. "You can see the yard and stuff...it looks really nice in the snow. My mum jokes about it being her 'winter wonderland.'"

He glanced at the door. "Alright."

"Where'd you put your stuff?"

"Oh! I'll be right back," Ardeal said, and then suddenly disappeared in a blur of colors. When he returned, he was already bundled up to go outside.

Janie blinked at him. "I hate it when you do that."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Janie said, as she left the room. "It's no fair."

"You can be a huge asset to the Quidditch team," Janie said, once she returned.

"Would that really be fair?"

"If you were in Slytherin, I bet they'd do anything to get you on the team," she said, as she led him to the back door. "Your mum won't be mad if you suddenly disappear?"

Ardeal shoved his hands into his pockets. "I don't think so."

---

After showing him around the basic part of the outside grounds, Janie brought him to the forest, where they started to talk about their families. Since Janie opted to tell him about hers, especially what her father was like, Ardeal felt complied to do the same.

"My dad's a vampire," Ardeal said. "He wasn't always one though...he was bitten on a trip after He-Voldemort had returned. We live in Transylvania...he worked for keeping wizards safe from the creatures that live around us.

"When they had me, they hoped that I wouldn't become a vampire...my mum's a witch. They beat themselves up pretty badly when they found out that I was one. My younger brother isn't one though."

"Is it hard?"

Ardeal looked thoughtful for a moment. "Which ever way the genes rumble. It can't be controlled. It's not really hard anymore. It was in the beginning, but I've gotten quite used to it now. Taniel is actually jealous of me. He thinks that I'm some sort of super hero and wants to be just like me."

"How old is he?" Janie asked.

"Eight. He thinks that it's cool to be able to move really fast and jump really high. I used to hide from him in the trees when we were younger."

"And your eyes turn red," Janie added.

"That too, but he's more scared of that. My parents don't want to explain too much to him yet. They're afraid that he'll purposely try to get me to bite him. He doesn't fully understand how I get in the sunlight though. I have to watch myself around him."

"How _do_ you get...exactly? You still go to classes outside."

"Sometimes. As long as it's concealed...like the greenhouses or in the forest. You've probably noticed that I get really tan and my hair turns orange in the sun?"

"I've noticed."

"I can't stand it when it's really sunny and hot out. Like the middle of the day, until when it starts to get cooler out. When I was younger, I wanted to see what happened, so I stayed out all day. After a little while, my skin really started to burn...like it was on fire. Before I could run into the house, I passed out. When I woke, my room was turned into some giant cooler-type thing and when I looked in the mirror, my hair was snow white. My dad teased me about it for weeks after that. I think my mum even took pictures."

Janie laughed. "I'd like to see some of those."

"Ha-ha. Like I'd ever show anyone."

Silence enveloped the pair for a few moments.

"Ardeal...back in the forest, you said that you've bitten somebody before."

Ardeal looked ahead, and after several long moments, he sighed.

"Shortly after Taniel was born, I bit my mum. I was five at the time...and I had just gotten into a lot of trouble and my mum wouldn't let me go. I was always told that I could _never_ bite anyone...I figured that if I bit her, then she'd leave me alone."

"Is she a vampire too?"

Ardeal finally looked at Janie. "They won't talk to me about how's she's changed, because they don't want me to be 'acting out.' I was told that 'I didn't know that that would happen' and it was merely an 'accident.' If I could take anything back, it would be that.

"I still don't know the full extent, even through observing. See, it's really strange. My dad's a full vampire, because he was bitten. I'm a half...my parents mentioned luck with that. I don't know what happens when a half vampire bites a human. There haven't been enough of us to really find out. I bet that they were really happy when I went off to school..." he trailed off.

"You know, I never think that you said exactly where you're from before," Janie commented. "Just where you live now."

Ardeal looked at her. "You promise you won't laugh?"

Janie nodded. "Why would I?"

He shrugged. "I live in Transylvania. People think it's funny, because I'm a vampire. Most people, when they think of Transylvania, they think of vampires..."

"That's really cool though," Janie said. "Do you have an accent? I mean, you can kind of tell that you do."

"I mask it," he replied. "It's easier to fit in that way."

"Did it take you a long time?"

"My mum taught me...and I watched a lot of movies before I went to Hogwarts. We actually have a smaller school out there."

"Really? But you have to show me your accent before you say anything else."

Ardeal rolled his eyes. "Is this enough for you?"

Janie smiled. "That is so cool! You should go back to school and talk to the teachers like that! I'd love to see the looks on their faces."

"Ha. Can I continue?"

"Yeah...sorry."

"Even though we have a school nearby, my parents wanted me to go to Hogwarts, especially with Dumbledore there. They told me that it'd be like starting out new. People we already know really well know that my dad's a vampire, so all of their kids now too. I'd never be able to normal there, everyone would stare and bother me. I'm sure it's better at Hogwarts...all of my professors know and they don't give me any extra special treatment. I don't need or want any."

"You're lucky," Janie said. "At first, everyone thought that I'd get special treatment, because both of my parents are professors. They expected me to get them all of the answers for their tests...one boy even tried to _pay_ me for the answers to his potions final."

Ardeal chuckled.

"And it seems at times, well, outside of class, really, that I actually _do_ get special treatment. The only class that I'm not really liked in is Astrology, and I have no idea why. I think my dad got in a fight with her before. At least, that's what my mum said."

"Is it really weird having professors as parents?"

"Sometimes, it can be. I can't call them 'mum' and 'dad' during class. And I don't raise my hand, so they won't call on me. I accidentally almost slipped once. My dad asked me a question and I caught myself right before I said it...he noticed."

"Did you get into trouble?"

Janie smiled. "Nope. He gave me a look though...I can't really explain it. He has a few looks that words can't describe. My mum and I refer to them as 'the look.' It doesn't matter which one we're talking about, we both get the jist. It's a joke between us, really. And he has no idea."

Ardeal laughed.

---

The end of break came much too quickly for everyone, and soon, school had started up again. Many of the students dreaded the return of school, but something else made its presence at the school, which they dreaded even more...It was absolutely _freezing_ out. It seemed as if a blanket of arctic air had settled on the grounds of Hogwarts, and it didn't come as a surprise to anybody when a number of students started to ditch any outside classes.

It was nearing the end of January when Janie thought she'd make a visit to Hagrid, since she was the only one done with her homework.

"Oi, Janie," Ardeal called.

Janie stopped and turned around. "Hey Ardeal."

Ardeal shoved his hands farther into his robes. "Do we seriously have to go to the greenhouses out here? It's freezing."

Janie nodded. "At least the greenhouses are charmed to be warm."

"She can just move her bloody plants inside. I'm sure she can find a way to use one of the classrooms. Weather like this makes me actually _miss _the sun."

"I think we all miss the sun," Janie laughed.

"What are you doing outside anyways?"

Janie looked at him. "Visiting Hagrid. Lyss and Matt had homework to finish. You know, you could always perform a warming spell."

"I get too hot," he replied. "It's much easier just doing this for short walks."

Janie nodded and silence enveloped the pair for several moments.

"Ehr...Janie, could I ask you something?"

"Sure," she replied.

"You already know that not that many people...like me here very much. I really don't want to be picked on even more for not doing things in school. I want to go to the Valentine's Party...but I wouldn't really know anybody there. Janie, would you mind going with me?" Ardeal asked.

Janie smiled at him. "Sure, Ardeal. I'd love to."

He smiled back. "Great. Well, I have to get to Herbology now. Time to get my fingers bitten off by something."

Janie laughed.

---

"So," Lyss began, a week after Ardeal asked Janie to the Party. "We're all going to the Valentine's Day Party, right?"

Three people nodded in return.

"Did Dumbledore say it'd be the same as last year?" Lyss asked.

Janie shrugged. "He's not letting on to anything yet."

"How many seats were at the table last year?"

Matt shrugged. "There were only three of us...four now, with Scott."

"And Ardeal," Janie said.

"He's going?" Scott asked.

"Yeah...he sort of...asked me," Janie informed them.

Scott and Matt stared at her.

"Really?" Lyss asked.

Janie nodded. "He actually wanted to go."

"And you said 'yes?'" Matt asked slowly.

"Yes."

"But he's a vampire," Scott said.

"He's still Ardeal," Janie said.

Scott breathed heavily through his nose, making Janie glare at him.

"But Janie, there's just something that's...not right about him," Scott said.

"What do you mean, 'not right?'"

"For one, he's a third year," Matt started.

Janie rolled her eyes. "He's only a year older than me...I'm older than all of you."

"But that's not the point," Scott said.

Janie sighed. "I don't know what the big deal is. Ardeal wants to go to the party, so he asked if I could go with him. He's trying to show everybody that he's _normal_, like us."

Matt stared at Janie sourly, while Scott crossed his arms.

---

Severus knew what he was doing was sly, but he knew he couldn't ask Janie about it, and he wanted answers. He was pretty sure that Hermione didn't know anything, since she hardly attended meals in the Great Hall anymore. Janie was hanging around someone he didn't like often lately, and he wanted to find out why.

"Mr. Narls," Severus drawled, walking up behind the boy in the Slytherin common room.

"Sir?" Scott asked, turning around in his seat.

"May I have a word with you?"

Scott looked around. "Sure...Professor," he said, getting up and following Severus to a corner of the room. "Is there anything wrong? Am I in trouble?"

"No," Severus said, and let his eyes scan the room, before answering the boy. "I was wondering if you knew if anything is going on about Janie."

"Sir?"

"You are her friend, are you not?"

"Yes, sir," Scott replied.

"I haven't been able to speak with her lately, and it seems like something might be bothering her. Do you know what that is?"

"No, sir, I don't think so."

"Anything at all? Is she fighting with anyone?"

Scott thought for a moment. "Well, there is this one thing, Professor. Janie is going with Ardeal to the Valentine's Party...Matt and I don't like him very much."

"Thank you, Mr. Narls. You may go back to what you were doing," Severus said, and immediately left.

---

"Hey Dad," Janie greeted, once he opened the door.

"Janie," Severus replied, letting her in to their quarters. "What brings you here?"

She shrugged. "Just thought that I'd stop by to say 'hi.' Is mum here?"

Severus shook his head. "McGonagall invited her over for tea, because she wanted to see Trenton."

"Anything new?" He asked casually.

Janie looked thoughtful for a few moments. "I don't think so."

"Nothing going on in your classes?"

"I scored over a hundred on the last quiz in Charms."

"Good. Quidditch?"

"Same as always," Janie replied.

"Friends?" He pried.

"Nothing new?"

"Going to the Valentine's Party?"

"Yep. Do you have to supervise it again?"

"Yes. Who are you going with?" He asked, and suddenly, Janie's face fell.

_Crap_! _He _knows! _He skipped 'are you' and went straight to _who, Janie thought.

"A friend," Janie replied simply.

"Mr. Narls?"

"Nope."

"Mr. Carter?"

"No..."

_Here it comes_...

"Please don't tell me who I think it is..." Severus said.

"Depends on who you're thinking of," Janie countered.

"It's not Mr. Levock, is it?"

"Which one?" Janie asked, nonchalantly.

"Which one? You know _which_ one-"

"No I don't...there's Taniel and Ardeal-"

"_Taniel_? Who is Taniel?"

"Ardeal's younger brother."

"There's _more_?" Severus asked.

"Yes, but Taniel's not a vampire-"

"Which one?"

"Ardeal asked me a while ago-"

"Ardeal...I thought that I already made it quite clear that I don't like him," Severus stated.

"You said you didn't like him," Janie replied. "You never said I couldn't go to a party with him. Besides, he's my friend and he has explained everything to me."

"That doesn't excuse his behavior," he said.

Janie was fuming now. "That was only because he didn't take his potion."

"What if he forgets to take it again?"

"He won't-"

"How are you so sure?"

"Because I'm hiding the potion for him."

Severus stared dumfounded at Janie for a minute.

"You're what?"

"I'm hiding his potion for him, so his roommates don't make fun of him and he doesn't have to go back into the forest."

Severus continued to stare at Janie, when the door opened up and Hermione stepped in with Trenton.

"Hello-Janie! How are - What's going on?" She asked, looking between the two.

"Hi Mum," Janie greeted, getting up. "I was actually just leaving," she said, making her way to the door. "Bye," she bid, as she opened the door and left.

Hermione turned around to face Severus. "Alright...what did you do?"

**A/N: Thanks again to all of those who have read and even reviewed; it's really appreciated! The part with Severus and his father was written with his background that was slightly mentioned throughout the story, incase anyone was confused by it at all. Next up: Janie finds out what Scott did and what in the world happens at the next Quidditch match that makes everyone angry?**

**I'm going to start wrapping everything up…if there's anything you'd like to see happen that hasn't yet, anything that you think I left out, or any loose ends, feel free to drop a line!**


	35. Quidditch

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I making any money off of this; J.K. Rowling does._**

_"Hi Mum," Janie greeted, getting up. "I was actually just leaving," she said, making her way to the door. "Bye," she bid, as she opened the door and left._

_Hermione turned around to face Severus. "Alright...what did you do?"_

---f

"I can't believe my dad!" Janie ranted. "How could he?"

"He's a dad," Lyss replied. "Dad's do that kind of stuff."

"He was such a git!" Janie said. "He's never been a git around me before!"

"I-"

"So Professor Snape pulled me aside last night," Scott said.f

"Janie-" Lyss began, but Janie pulled her back.

"Ssshhh," she said, as they hid around a corner so that Scott wouldn't see them.

"Did you get in trouble?" Matt asked.

"No...he actually wanted to know what was going on with Janie, because he hadn't spoken to her in a while," Scott informed him, making Janie's jaw pop open.

"Did you tell him anything?"

"He wanted to know some things...I told him that Janie was going to the dance with Ardeal."

"What'd he say?"

"He just left-"

"I can't _believe you_!" Janie yelled, as she rounded the corner, making Matt and Scott look absolutely shocked. "You _told_ him? How _could_ you? You _know _that my dad doesn't like Ardeal!"

"Janie-"

"No. No excuses. _How could you, Scott_? I can't believe that _you_ were the one that told him!"

"Janie, I didn't know that it would get you into any-"

"Trouble? But you _know_ how my dad is and that he doesn't like him. Of course he wouldn't be happy! And he didn't even ask you that exact question, did he?"

"Well-"

"You did it for your own personal gain, Scott Narls. You _do_belong in Slytherin after all," Janie said, pointing a finger at him. "I know that Ardeal isn't your favorite person, but you could have lied!"

"Let's go Lyss, before I hex his eyeballs out," she said, and the two disappeared down the corridor.

---

"What did you do?" Hermione repeated.

Severus stared at her. "I merely asked who she was going to the party with."

"Why do I get the feeling that 'asked' isn't the right word?"

Severus ignored the question. "Do you know who's she's going to that party with?"

"Ardeal?" Hermione asked.

"You knew?"

"Yes. Janie came over about a week ago and told me-"

"And you don't have a problem with it?"

"No...they're friends, Severus. Janie told me all about him. I think he's a very misunderstood person. It's a shame that everyone treats him the way they do...including you."

"I'm only doing this to keep Janie safe. You don't know what might happen," he countered.

"If you opened your eyes, you can see that Ardeal is responsible. You're not looking at the whole picture."

"I still don't like him," Severus said.

---

"She's mad at you, alright," Matt said, as Scott continued to stare down the corridor.

"Uh huh," the blond wizard replied. "Easy for you to say, you didn't even say anything."

"She'll get over it...hopefully," Matt commented.

"Yeah..."

"We could start the Ant-Ardeal/Janie club," Matt remarked.

"Anti-Vampire Alliance-"

"Well, I still like vampires," Matt said.

"Fine," Scott replied. "Carter-Narls Alliance."

"CNA? Sounds like a federation or something."

Scott chuckled.

---

Valentine's Day had come all too quickly. Janie still wasn't speaking to Scott since the he 'slipped' the fact that Janie and Ardeal were going to the party together. (According to Dumbledore's views, the party and dance went so well last year, he decided to start a new yearly tradition.) Scott tried apologizing a few times, but every time that he tried, he always ended up sticking his foot into it and Janie refused to talk to him. One time, she even cast a leg-locking jinx on him. Hours before the party, Scott found Janie in the hallway, and just like before, it didn't end well.

"Janie!" Scott called down the corridor.

"Yeah?" Janie stopped and waited until he walked to her.

"I think that this has gone on for too long. Why are you still mad at me?"

Janie crossed her arms and glared at him. "You're seriously asking me that question?"

"But I'm not the one who yelled at you! That was your dad!"

Janie's glare darkened. "You're the one who _told_ him. I _trusted_ you, Scott! I told you-"

"That doesn't make any difference...you still told him."

"I don't know why it matters so much," Scott began. "I already sa-"

"'Matters so much?' I _like_ you, that's why it matters so much! And you turned around and ratted me out. You're such a dolt, Scott."

Scott stared at Janie blankly, while she turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

---

The Great Hall was almost fashioned exactly as it was the year before, except it seemed that Professor Flitwick went a little overboard on the decorations. As planned, the four managed to get a table together, while Lyss constantly moved from their table to Logan's; no one knew how she managed that one. Only one thing was missing...Ardeal.

"Has anyone seen Ardeal?" Janie asked.

"No," Lyss said. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen him all day."

Janie looked at Matt, who shook his head.

"Maybe he chickened out," Scott remarked.

Janie ignored him.

"Well, he-"

"Is right behind you."

Janie spun around to see Ardeal standing behind her.

"Woah," Lyss said. "What'd you _do_?"

Ardeal smirked; it looked like he had been outside during a summer day.

"Sorry," he said, deciding not to disguise his accent. "I heard you that one day talking about my hair. Just because I was out of sight, doesn't mean I can't hear things."

Lyss' eyes popped. "Where are you from?"

"Transylvania. Janie didn't tell you?"

"No she didn't."

Ardeal shrugged. "Well, now you know."

---

Halfway through the dance, Janie returned to the table to find that Matt and Scott were still sitting next to each other, with their arms crossed.

"Anyone want to dance?" Janie asked.

"Won't Ardeal be upset?" Scott snapped.

"No," Ardeal said, as he sat down. "It's a party. You two looked really bored."

"C'mon," Janie said. "You two have sat there all night with your arms crossed, looking...well, looking really mad. Please?"

Matt sighed. "Alright."

---

"How did the party go?" Hermione asked, once Severus walked back into their quarters.

"Fine."

"Janie?"

"Was by him nearly the whole time," he replied.

Hermione smiled.

"What are you smiling about?"

"You're like this now. Just wait...in a few years, she'll actually be dating," Hermione laughed.

"No she won't. Not while I'm here. I suppose there's still time before the da-"

"Oh! I told Dumbledore that I wouldn't be going," Hermione said.

Severus stared at her.

"I told him that with Trenton, I didn't think it was possible to go. I don't want to leave him with a house elf."

"Do I have the pleasure of taking your shift now?" He asked dryly.

"Nope. You already had to supervise the party. I figured we could go back home for the night."

Severus raised an eyebrow.

"We can eat...and share a dance in the ballroom, then-"

"I beg your pardon?"

Hermione blinked. "Dance. In the ballroom."

Severus blinked back. "Hermione. No."

"Just once. And then a movie. By then, Trenton should sleep through the whole movie, so we can watch it."

"Movie?"

"They're all in Janie's movie room...I hid all of the ones that Janie's not supposed to watch-"

"'Not supposed to watch?' What kind of movies _do_ you watch?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "It's not like they're anything bad. A few scary movies more than anything. Harry got them for me, so he could watch them at my house. Besides, it's Saturday."

"Alright..."

---

"What are we doing?" Severus asked, when Hermione stopped outside a pair of doors. "This better not be where I think we are."

Hermione smiled. "Don't open your eyes yet," she said, as she opened the doors and dragged him in.

"Hermione..."

"Severus, you'll ruin the surprise," she said, as she waved her wand and over a dozen torches lit.

"Just give me one more second," she said, as she grabbed his hand, while her other rested on his shoulder. "Alright, open them."

He groaned.

"It'll be fun," Hermione said.

"There's no music," he countered.

Hermione started to hum.

Severus rolled his eyes. "You can at least do it properly," he said, took out his wand and waved it, making soft music fill the air.

Hermione smiled brightly at him, as they began to move across the dance floor.

---

A week after Valentine's Day, Scott found Janie in the library and hesitantly approached her.

"Hi Janie," he said, as he sat across from her.

Janie looked up.

"I come in peace this time," he said, putting his hands up.

Janie raised an eyebrow.

"I know I've been downright dreadful to you...I'm _really _sorry. I should have never told your dad that. I guess that I was just mad about the whole Ardeal thing. I know I've said some pretty mean things to you...and I deserve a lot more than just that one jinx. I promise that I will _never_ do anything like that again. I'd rather take a month's worth of detentions with your dad."

Janie looked at him for a moment.

"I really am sorry," Scott said.

"Alright," Janie said.

Scott smiled widely. "And if I ever do it again, you can jinx by butt off."

---

It was two weeks before the Spring holidays, and nearly the whole school was gathered at the Quidditch Pitch. Whoever won this match, would go to the Quidditch Cup game, against Hufflepuff. As luck would have it, the game was against Gryffindor and Slytherin.

"Alright," Mark Rhymer said. "If we win this game, we're going to the Cup match! Is everyone ready?"

"Slytherin is going down!" Michael Weasley exclaimed.

"Remember your practice. They're going to be fighting dirty...well, dirtier than usual. It's going to be worse today, because Professor Snape isn't going to be here. Yes, Janie?"

Janie nodded.

"So remember all of the tactics and tricks we went through. Let's show them how good Gryffindor _really_ is!"

"Are the teams ready?" Madam Hooch's voice boomed across the field.

As the two teams marched to the center of the field, the Pitch erupted in a frenzy of screaming.

---

There was no doubt that Slytherin was taking the full advantage of their Head of House's absence. The beaters were relentlessly sending bludgers at the Gryffindor chasers; at one point, it looked more like a table tennis match than a Quidditch game. In response to the Slytherin's new enthusiasm, the Gryffindor beaters responded with equal force, except their only targets were the beaters. It was a little more than thirty minutes into the game, when Gryffindor was leading fifty to twenty, and the Slytherins were down a chaser. Michael Weasley and Scott had gotten in a battle over the quaffle, when a bludger was sent at Michael, but it had hit Scott instead, breaking his arm. After much persistence, Madam Pomfrey allowed him to finish watching the game on the sidelines.

A few minutes after Slytherin had scored another goal, Janie saw their seeker take a sharp dive towards the ground. However, as she turned her head to look at the ground, a glitter of light caught her eyes halfway down the field. When the Slytherin seeker noticed that she wasn't following him, he looked up to see Janie flying away, completely ignoring his Wronski Feint.

"She's seen it!" The boy yelled, catching the attention of the beaters. "She can't catch it! Someone get her!"

Immediately, both of the beaters turned around and went zooming off towards her.

"_Janie_!" Matt yelled.

As the two quickly approached, Janie pushed her broom one last time and reached for the snitch.

"Gryffindor wins! Janie Snape has caught the snitch!" The announcer yelled.

"Yes!" Matt yelled, zooming off towards Janie, who was holding up the snitch in the air, when a beater's bat went hurling past him and smacked Janie in the back, making her drop the snitch.

"Madam Hooch!" Logan yelled, but the witch didn't hear, because she was too busy reprimanding the announcer for his behavior from earlier in the game.

As soon as Janie landed, Mark walked up to her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's no problem-"

"It is a problem, Janie. They hit you on purpose!"

"But we won. Slytherin is out of the running! We're going to the Cup," Janie stopped, when the Slytherin team landed close to them.

"Oi, Billers!" Mark yelled, calling the Slytherin's captain.

The boy looked up and smirked, "Is there a problem?"

"You bet there is!" Mark said, throwing down his broomstick. "What the hell was that for? Hitting our seeker?"

"Oh! That," the boy said. "Clard's bat slipped. He was trying to beat bats with Willows'."

"My bloody arse!" Rhymer yelled.

"Mark, it's alright. I-" Janie started.

"No, it's not alright, Janie-"

"Listen to her, you bloody Gryffindor. It slipped," he sneered. "And there's nothing you can do about i-"

Before anybody could blink, Mark turned around and punched the Slytherin captain in the face.

Within seconds, the Slytherin team (Save Scott, who was still on the sidelines.) had practically jumped right on top of the Gryffindor team. Remembering how she promised not to get into any more fights, Janie started to back away, until she was shoved on the ground – then everything went out the window.

As soon as she got up, she saw a fifth year student just about to pin Matt to the ground, when she jumped in and made the boy topple over. As the chaos broke out, Madam Hooch ran across the field with her wand drawn, only to have it knocked out of her hand and lost through the hoard of fighting students.

---

"Oh Merlin, no," Harry groaned, once he noticed how close the two teams were getting to each other, right after Gryffindor had won.

"Please don't let there be a fight," McGonagall pleaded. "Severus isn't here for is House-"

"FIGHT!" Ron exclaimed, jumping out of his seat.

The group watched in shock for a moment, while Rhymer socked the Slytherin captain and the Slytherin team jumped right into the sea of scarlet uniforms.

"That rat!" Ron exclaimed, when he saw Janie get shoved. "Go Janie, go!"

"Ron!"

"Mr. Weasley!"

Ron turned around sheepishly, as the teacher's stand quickly emptied.

---

By the time that the first professor had set foot on the Quidditch pitch, most of the sixth and seventh year students from Gryffindor and Slytherin had jumped from the stands and out onto the field.

"Matt!" Lyss cried from the stands. "Janie!" She yelled, running towards the stairs, when someone else caught her eye. "Logan!" She exclaimed as she ran around Professor Flitwick, onto the field, and jumped onto the back of the Slytherin seeker.

"Janie!" Matt called. "Behind you!"

Janie spun around to see Clard heading straight for them, when she ducked, making him flip over her – and knock Matt over.

"Matt!" Janie called, and helped him up, only to get bumped and fall right on top of him.

"Janie," Matt gasped.

"Oh, sorry-" Janie's words were cut off as she was kicked off of him.

Matt jumped up and saw the boy who had kicked Janie and laid a fist right into his gut.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Matt yelled, making the boy turn around. "Bloody hell," he mumbled, once he saw that it was the other seventh year beater on the Slytherin team.

"Oh crud…" he trailed off, and right when he thought that he was going to be pummeled, Janie came out of nowhere and kicked the large boy right in the crotch.

---

As soon as McGonagall made it on the field, she tried to stop the madness, only to get swallowed into the crowd of feuding students. While she was trying to rip the students away from each other, she found Madam Hooch's wand cracked in half on the field.

The rest of the professors had managed to miraculously clear the stands out and get the rest of the students back to the castle. As soon as the first student got back, he alerted Dumbledore (who was having a very important meeting in his office over his new chocolate frog card), who went as fast as he could to the field.

---

"Why don't you shove them back, Professor?" Ron asked, as he helped McGonagall up.

"I'm a Professor-"

"Snape's hit me before. Use your wand-"

"It's gone," McGonagall stated.

"It's gone?"

"It was tore out of my hand," she said, but it went unheard by Ron, who ran off when he saw Lyss, who was about to be clobbered by a student from the behind.

"Didn't your mother teach you not to hit girls?" Ron roared, un-expectantly grabbing the boy's collar and shoved him on to the ground.

"Harry, get Janie!" Ron called, while Harry was busy trying to squeeze his way through the crowd.

When Harry found Janie, she was being held up in the air by a green-robed boy.

"Oi-"

"Let me go, you big goof!" Janie yelled.

"What're you going to do? Your daddy's not here to save you now."

"He's going to kick your arse!" Janie exclaimed, as she kicked him really hard in the stomach and he immediately dropped her.

"You little-" he would have grabbed Janie again, had she not punched him in the chin.

Harry winced when he saw the blood on the boy's face, and watched as he wiped it off with his robes; Harry suddenly felt sick when he realized that it was Janie's blood. Right after she punched him, she let out a gasp and looked at the back of her hand, her eyes growing wide.

"Look what you made me do!" She shrieked.

"I bet daddy's not going to like that," he sneered. "You made my robes all dirty-" He was cut off when Janie lunged at him with all of her might and knocked him over, making him fall on top of a seventh year Gryffindor.

"Ha! That's-" Janie's words were chocked when an arm wrapped around her stomach and hoisted her up into the air.

"Let's go, Janie," Harry said, as he ran over to Matt and grabbed the collar of his robes, leading them out of the hoard, and under the Quidditch stands.

Moments later, Dumbledore ran onto the field and couldn't believe the sight that met his eyes. There were about twenty five students brawling on the Quidditch pitch, with professors McGonagall, Lupin, Sprout, and Madam Hooch trying to break up the fights. Ron Weasley was standing on the sidelines helping Ms. Carter, and he could have sworn he caught a glimpse of Harry dragging an object with him.

Knowing all too well that no one was going to stop is he spoke, he took out his wand.

"_IMPEDIMENTA_!" Dumbledore exclaimed, and everyone in the brawl went flying backwards. In another swift movement, he amplified his voice and then spoke; his tone was anything but approving.

"I can't believe what is going on! This is beyond disappointing! It's such a shame to see two Hogwarts houses act like this!" He shouted, as students started to get up. "If I see anybody lift an arm, they will be expelled."

Suddenly, the Quidditch field went deathly still.

"Now I want the two Quidditch teams there," Dumbledore said, pointing towards a spot to his left. "Students, to my right…"

---

"Are you two alright?" Harry asked, once they were under the safety of the Quidditch stands.

The two were quiet, as Dumbledore started his speech.

When Harry looked at Janie, he had to hold in a gasp. Her entire right hand was covered in blood from a busted open knuckle, she had a fat lip, and her robes were torn. His glance then wavered to Matt; his robes were also torn, the entire right side of his face was swollen, and he also had some ugly bruising. Suddenly, Janie cried.

"My necklace is gone!"

"Your what?" Harry asked.

"My necklace! Oh my God…it's gone," Janie started to panic.

"The phoenix feather one?" Matt asked.

"Yeah," Janie said. "Uncle Harry, it's gone!"

"What does it do?"

"It's like a protector necklace," she said, and started to wheeze when she breathed.

Within the moment of silence, they heard Dumbledore's voice, "Five! Five students unconscious! This is extremely unacceptable behavior! The teams are to go to their House's office, before visiting the Infirmary. You lived with your injuries while you were fighting, and you can live with them for a little while more. The Slytherin Quidditch team will go straight to the Great Hall and sit there. All students not on any team will go straight to my office and wait there for me."

"We can go to Hagrid's or something and I can fix you up there," Harry offered. "If I bring you back, Dumbledore will understand."

Janie shook her head, "No thanks, Harry. It's nice of you, but I need to go with my team."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

Janie sighed, "Yeah. I'm a big reason why this whole thing started…Mark hit him, because of what they did to me."

"But Janie, he didn't have to punch anyone. It's his own fault, not yours."

"I know," Janie said. "But we're a team, and teams stick together. I went in with them, and I'm going out with them too."

"You too?" Harry asked, looking at Matt.

Matt nodded, "All of the way."

Harry smiled, "I'm very proud of you two. It takes a big person to do what you two are doing. And I'm sure Dumbledore will keep that in mind while he's yelling at you two."

Janie gave a weak smile, "I hope so."

"Do you want me to heal your hand?" Harry asked.

Janie looked down, "No. I'm with my team until the end. If they can't go to the Infirmary, I can live with it. It doesn't hurt so much anymore, and the bleeding has pretty much stopped," she said, and tore a piece of her robe off, rapping it around her hand.

"Ready then?" Harry asked.

Janie nodded, "Let's go."

Harry followed the two of them out of the Quidditch stands, a protective hand on each of their shoulders.

---

"Ah, there you two are," McGonagall said, when Harry entered with the two. "Thank you, Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded, and then immediately noticed Ron, who was sitting on the side of the office on a chair.

"Ron?" He asked.

"Oh yes," McGonagall said. "He's in trouble with the lot."

Harry looked completely confused, "Why?"

"He decided to get physical with the rest. Thank you, Mr. Potter, that will be all now," McGonagall said, and Harry left the room, deciding to wait outside of the classroom for Janie and Ron.

---

"Let me start off by completely agreeing with what Professor Dumbledore has said. This is inexcusable behavior and it will not be tolerated. You were representing Gryffindor and you did a dreadful job of it! Godric Gryffindor is rolling in his grave for such atrocious behavior! You're supposed to be the cream of the crop! Never have I seen such terrible behavior…the whole team too!" She cried, giving each and every member a scalding look.

After another several minutes of reiterating how disappointed she was and how shameful their behavior had been, she continued on.

"And I will be writing to each and every one of your parents. I don't care where they are, what they're doing, or what time of day it is. I am so…livid with you, I don't know what to do. As of now, you are banned from Hogsmeade for the rest of the year, Saturday morning detentions with Filch for a month, detention every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a month, and Quidditch is on suspension until I can talk with professors Dumbledore and Snape. In addition, fifty house points will be taken from each of you, and Mr. Rhymer, another forty for throwing the first punch. It looks like Gryffindor won't be winning anything this year," McGonagall said, while every member of the team concentrated on looking at the ground.

"And Mr. Weasley," McGonagall turned around in her seat to look at him. "What made you assault Mr. Fleshly?"

Ron looked her in the eye, "He was about to attack Lyss Carter from the behind."

"That doesn't mean-"

"Professor! She is years younger than him and he thought that he could attack her from the behind!"

"Mr. Weasley-"

"And it's not like I really assaulted him! I shoved him on the ground! At least I didn't haul off and punch him!" Ron said, now standing. "If I didn't do it, then Lyss would have been seriously injured."

"Mr. Weasley, please go out and wait in the hallway."

Ron made a disgruntled noise and left, slamming the door on his way out.

After Ron had left, McGonagall spoke again. "Each and every one of you are lucky not to be expelled. Is that clear?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good. Now who needs to go to the Hospital Wing?" McGonagall asked, and nearly everybody raised a hand. "Know what? I want all of you to go and get checked. If you refuse to go or don't think that anything is wrong, I will check you myself. Now go – and don't make me have to walk you down there single file. Ms. Snape, on your way out, will you send Mr. Weasley in there?"

Janie nodded, as the room quickly exited.

"Uncle Ron," Janie said, as soon as she was out of the room. "Professor McGonagall would like to see you."

"Good luck, mate," Harry said, as Ron went back into the room and shut the door behind him.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Harry asked.

"No, it's alright. I'd rather you be with my when I see my parents," Janie said, as she started to walk down the hallway again.

"I'll see what I can do," Harry replied. "Good luck!"

---

Hermione and Severus were in just finishing up with Trenton's appointment, when an owl started to peck on the room's window.

"Would you be able to get that, Mr. Snape?" The doctor asked, while Hermione was holding Trenton.

Severus nodded and opened the window, the owl dropping the letter and then leaving.

"That's weird..." Severus said. "It's for us," he said, and opened the letter, immediately frowning when he recognized the handwriting.

_Severus and Hermione,_

_I am sorry to disrupt your day out, but there has been an incident after the Quidditch match and I am writing to all of the player's parents. After Janie had caught the snitch, Mr. Clard thought that it would be a wise idea to throw his bat at her. To make a long story short, as I'm sure that I will be telling you later, Mr. Rhymer took to physical methods to attack Slytherin's captain and the Slytherin team literally jumped on the Gryffindors._

_Everybody, except Mr. Narls, joined in on the riot and by the time we got down there, the students were jumping over the wall to get onto the field to help out their houses. Janie was involved in the fight and has received detention. It also appears that she was injured in the brawl; in my office, she had her robe rapped around her hand and her lip was quite swollen. Albus and I are waiting for your arrival to decide the rest of the punishments. Hope everything is going well._

_With regards,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

Severus sighed and put the letter into his pocket.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked.

"We're all done here," the doctor said smiling. "Trenton is doing wonderfully and he is up to speed on everything. His heart, believe it or not, is stronger than any I have seen on a four month old."

Hermione smiled, "That's wonderful!"

"I trust everything is well," the doctor said, smiling.

"Oh yes," Severus said. "It's just the other one."

"Oh good! Trenton has a sibling?"

"An older sister," Severus replied.

"Well, thank you so much," Hermione bid, as the doctor held the door open for them.

"It was no problem at all," he replied, as Severus and Hermione walked down the hall, through the waiting room, and into the hospital.

"What's going on, Severus? Is Janie alright?" Hermione asked.

Severus sighed, "There was a fight after the Quidditch match."

"Don't tell me…"

"Everybody it seems, besides Mr. Narls, was involved in the fight. Even the students in the stands," Severus informed her.

Hermione gasped, while Severus walked through an open door that led to an empty room with a fireplace.

Hermione closed the door, "Are you calling Hogwarts?"

"I need to talk to Minerva for a minute."

Hermione nodded, "I'm going to walk in the hallway; Trenton's getting anxious."

Severus nodded, while Hermione shut the door behind her.

---

"I can't believe all of you!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, once the Gryffindor team had taken up half of the beds in the Hospital Wing. "Extremely disappointing! For everything you have done, I have half a mind to let you sit like that for a little while longer. But alas, I am only one person, and there are now more than five of you. I say it's fair that I deal with the more serious injuries first. Can everyone survive with that?"

Many nods and words of agreement could be heard.

"Good," the mediwitch announced.

---

Fifteen minutes later, Severus walked back into the hallway to find Hermione waiting for him.

"How is everything?"

Severus shook his head. "I only got to speak with her for a few moments, before I had to floo to the Headmaster's office and threaten the entire Slytherin team. Minerva told me what happened…all of the teachers are fuming at the school and now both teams have taken up residence in the Hospital Wing. Five students were knocked unconscious in the riot."

"Is Janie alright?"

"From what I heard, yes. And not only that, several members of the Slytherin Quidditch team decided to shout what Janie did to them. Among them, there was lunging, fat lips, or my personal favorite, 'she gave me a crotch-shot.' "

Hermione's eyes widened, "She did what?"

"Apparently, out daughter is a little fighter."

"I'm going to kill her-"

"She wasn't the only one…Apparently, Mr. Weasley also participated in the brawl. Potter was the one who got her out before Dumbledore reached the field."

"Are we going back?"

"No," Severus replied. "I already took care of Janie. Besides, the castle is hectic and I don't feel like lecturing and yelling at a bunch of misbehaving students."

Hermione looked completely shocked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Severus replied. "You said that you wanted to go shopping for Trenton, didn't you?"

Hermione nodded.

"Then let's go."

---

"I'm warning you lot now," Madam Pomfrey started. "Professor Snape has ordered the entire Slytherin Quidditch team to be confined to the Hospital Wing until he gets back. They will be down here shortly, and you will not start anything with them. I don't want to hear any side comments, snide remarks, vulgar finger gestures, mouthing of words, spells, or anything. Do I make myself clear?"

Everybody nodded, as she disappeared to cupboards to collect several flasks.

Janie sighed and right as she turned to Matt, an owl flew through the open doorway and dropped a red envelope onto Janie's lap.

"Oh crap," Janie said slowly, looking at the red envelope. "My dad is mad at me."

Matt's eye's widened, "You got a howler?"

"Oh yeah," Janie said, trying to get off of the bed, but Madam Pomfrey caught her.

"Oh no, Ms. Snape; you're not going anywhere until I can check your injuries and heal your hand."

Janie sat back against her pillows and closed her eyes. "Well, I supposed it's now or never…"

"Better now," Matt said, bracing himself for the loud noise.

Janie carefully opened the letter, which immediately hopped out of her hands.

"JANIE…ELISE…SNAPE!" Snape's voice boomed throughout the wing, making everything going deathly still, and Madam Pomfrey dropped a vial, which shattered all over the floor.

"I cannot _BELIEVE_ your behavior! You got into _another_ fight? I thought we discussed this after Mr. Brushour last year. This is completely unacceptable! I got a mouthful when I contacted the Headmaster's office. Fat lips? 'Crotch shot!?' You are very lucky that I haven't told your mother everything yet. You are in a hell of a lot more trouble than you are now," the letter said and then suddenly, it turned to face the room. "What is everybody looking at? Get back to your own business!" It boomed and then exploded, showering Janie's bed in small scraps of paper.

"Wow," Janie said, as she took her wand out and cleaned up the mess. "At least that wasn't the most embarrassing thing that ever happened."

Matt looked at her, "Well, at least we got yelled at too. But something happened that was more embarrassing?"

Janie nodded, "Oh yeah. My mother thought a few things were cute, but they were downright embarrassing a few years ago."

---

**A/N: Thanks again to all of those who have read and reviewed; it's really appreciated! This should be the first half of the last chapter. Don't worry, there'll be an epilogue too. If you want to see anything happen, think anything should happen, anything at all, don't be shy and drop a line! **

**Hope everyone had a great Holiday season and have a great New Year!**


	36. The Aftermath

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter _nor am I making any money off of this. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

**Wow...huge appologies go out to everybody. School and work got in the way...and writer's block (I don't want it to end!). **

**So, here's the last chapter, hope everyone enjoys!**

**(There's also going to be an epilogue.)**

**---**

Their shopping trip was cut short, when Severus received another owl, this time from Dumbledore. The Headmaster requested his presence as soon as possible, and apologized for any inconvenience. As soon as the two got back from their outing, they were met by Harry and Ron, who tried to quickly fill them in on their side of the story. Unfortunately, before Severus could really hear any of it, McGonagall found them and dragged him to Dumbledore's office.

Hermione patiently listened to everything that Harry and Ron had to say, because they looked like they were both on the verge of exploding. After they had finished their tale, Harry had offered to take Trenton on a walk throughout the grounds, while Hermione visited Janie in the Hospital Wing.

"And if you have any problems at all, you know where I am," Hermione said and handed over Trenton's bag to Ron. "His bottles are in there, along with new diapers and everything you'll need to change him. There are also a few toys, a shrunken blanket, and any potion that you might need in there."

Harry nodded, "We'll be fine, Hermione."

Ron nodded in agreement, "And we'll even walk with you to the Hospital Wing."

After they bid goodbye to Hermione, they waited until she disappeared into the Wing, before walking out to the lake. For the end of March, it was surprisingly warm out. Harry walked one side of the lake with Trenton, while Ron walked backwards, trying to make Trenton laugh with a variety of funny faces. It wasn't until Ron nearly tripped over a rock and fell in the lake, did they decide to set up a blanket under a tree and empty all of the toys out of the baby's bag.

"Can you believe that McGonagall actually _threatened _me with detention?" Ron asked, after they sat down. "She was going to make me _clean _her classroom."

"You did push that student. And before you go off on me, I understand what you did...you just have to look at it at their point of view. How in the world is she going to explain that to the boy's parents?"

"Well," Ron began. "She was going to make me write an apology...but she doesn't think that the boy will say anything. I don't think that he wants his parents knowing that he was picking on a younger girl."

"Then what _did_ she do to you? You wouldn't say anything after she let you go."

"She wrote to my parents," Ron replied quietly.

"She...wrote to your parents?"

Ron nodded, making Harry burst out in laughter.

"I can't believe she wrote to them, Harry! It's like I'm in school again! My mum is going to _kill_ me! I wouldn't be surprised if I got another howler again. Well, I suppose it's better than getting kicked off the grounds again. She was real close to doing that too."

---

"Janie, are you alright?" Hermione asked, practically running to Janie's bed.

"Yeah," Janie replied.

"What happened to your hand?"

Janie carefully unwrapped the robe and showed her mother her hand.

"Merlin, Janie! You're covered in blood! What did you do!?"

"My knuckle split open when I popped some guy in the chin," Janie replied softly.

"You did _wha_t?"

"I had to Mum! It was fight back or get beaten out there!" Janie defended.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at her, "How long have you been in here?"

"I dunno, awhile?"

"Then why are you still breathing like that?" Hermione asked.

"Because it hurts," Janie said softly.

"It hurts to breathe? Did you tell Madam Pomfrey?"

"No," Janie said stubbornly. "I can wait until it's my turn."

"Janie-"

"It's alright, Mum…really," Janie said.

Hermione sighed. "We got a letter from McGonagall."

"Dad sent me a howler," Janie mumbled.

"She said – He sent you a _what_?" Hermione asked, forgetting about the fight for the time being.

"He sent me a howler," Janie repeated, this time louder, while Matt nodded in agreement.

Hermione's jaw lowered. "When?"

"Not too long ago. I got it right before the Slytherin team came in."

"Everyone heard?"

Janie nodded, "It yelled at them too. Everybody on the team said that they felt sorry for me and thanked me for the warning; they've all decided to avoid dad at all costs for the next week."

"Oh boy," Hermione sighed. "What'd he say?"

"He yelled at me for my behavior, listed some things that the Slytherin team said I did to them, said I was in more trouble, and he used my full name," Janie said.

"I can't believe that he sent you a howler!" Hermione said.

Janie inwardly smirked; now her mum was mad at her dad.

Janie nodded sadly.

"I'll be right back, Janie," Hermione said, and walked off to the end of the wing.

Matt turned to Janie, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Janie smiled, "Well, I was going to tell her about the howler anyways, but the few guilty and sad looks are what really do it."

Matt laughed.

When Hermione came back, Madam Pomfrey was tailing her.

"Ms. Snape! Why didn't you tell me that it hurt to breathe?"

Janie's eyes widened, "Mum!"

"I'm glad that your mother told me! You are just as stubborn as your father with these things," Madam Pomfrey said, as she wrapped the curtain around Janie's bed. The last thing that Janie saw was her mother smiling at her – a sure sign that this was part of the payback.

---

It was right before dinnertime when Severus finally was able to yell at the Slytherin Quidditch team. Once he stormed in and started to yell at his team, Madam Pomfrey rushed out of her office and put a silencing charm over the Slytherin side. When she did it, every Gryffindor player started to complain – they planned on it being their entertainment for the night.

"I am not listening to him yell again today," the mediwitch said. "You don't need to listen to them get into trouble-"

"But we hardly ever hear it!" Mark Rhymer exclaimed.

"Mr. Rhymer," Madam Pomfrey began, pointing right at him. "You're just lucky I don't stick you in there with them."

---

Severus was not having a good afternoon. After he and Hermione had returned back from Hogwarts, everything went downhill. For an hour, he was stuck in Dumbledore's office, watching McGonagall's memory and discussing with the two of them what they were going to do with the teams. McGonagall was extremely reluctant to take away Gryffindor's playing rights for the rest of the year, because they had made it to the Cup.

Now, he had to deal with the Slytherin team in the Hospital Wing. He was so upset at their behavior that he didn't care if the whole wing heard what he had to say. Luckily though, after he had started his rant on how shameful the team had acted, Madam Pomfrey had rushed out and silenced their portion of the room. It wasn't long until the a few members of the team started to yell out all of the things that Janie did to them.

"I don't want to hear what she did to you-"

"But sir! She gave me a fat lip!"

"How do you know it was her for sure? You were in a fight. I'm pretty sure she wasn't the only one to physically assault your face-"

"Sir! She kicked me-"

"How many times do I have to reiterate that you were in a fight? You knew what you were getting into when you jumped on the other team-"

"We-"

"I saw what happened in a pensieve," Snape replied. "Don't try to back out of it."

"Did you see how your daug-"

"For Merlin's sake!" He yelled. "She's thirteen! You're a bunch of boys whining about what a thirteen year old did to you! How old are you? The youngest one is Mr. Narls and he had enough brains not to get in on the fight! Knock off the whining, or I'll have you all reassigned to Hufflepuff! You're crying about what she did to you? Did any of you think of what would happen to a person four years younger than some of you? Don't whine to me about fat lips…someone cracked a few of her ribs and you don't see her whining about it now, do you?"

When he paused, it was so quiet in the Infirmary, you could have heard a pin drop.

"I've talked to Professor Dumbledore about your punishments. It seems that he didn't hand any out yet. Seventy-five points from each of you. Quidditch on the grounds is banned until the next season starts again. You will receive detention and it will be discussed here shortly. But to begin, you will all have Saturday afternoon detentions with Filch," he said, and took out his wand.

"Before I lift the silencing charm, I want you all to know something. I am a father first, then a professor. If anybody hunts down anybody that 'did you wrong' in the fight, you'll never have a free night this year," he finished as Professor McGonagall walked into the room and he lifted the silencing charm.

---

"He looks angry," Matt said, as everybody was watching Professor Snape yell at his team.

"He sure does," Janie replied.

"They're pointing at you…"

"Who?" Janie asked.

"Clard and the captain," Matt stated.

"Uh oh," Janie whispered, when her father pointed at her and then got closer to the boy and started to yell again. "Looks like I'm the hot topic for the day."

A few minutes later, McGonagall walked in and the silencing charm was soon lifted.

"Ready, Severus?" The older witch asked.

"Yes," he replied.

"Alright, my House, listen up!" McGonagall shouted. "You're a part of this conversation too. Professor Snape and I have come up with the punishment situation. Instead of having detention for a month, we have decided that you will scrub every classroom in the castle…together. All thirteen of you…at the same time."

"Since you seem so inclined to be physically active, we decided that this would be the perfect task for you. As soon as you finish cleaning the classrooms, your detentions will be over," Severus said.

"And they will be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Saturday are the detentions with Filch; Gryffindors at seven in the morning and Slytherins at three. All of the detentions will be over once you learn to work with each other and clean the classrooms."

"There will be no substitutions for this or no skiving off," Severus stated. "If you're sick, you will make it up another day."

"Fighting is not tolerated in this school and each and every one of you are lucky not to be expelled or even suspended," McGonagall said. "Do I make myself clear?"

Thirteen heads nodded.

"Good. And my House, your playing situation is still up in the air. While everybody is in here, you should get to know each other better. After all, you're going to be spending a lot of time together after this," she finished.

---

"How did it go?" Hermione asked, once Severus sat down.

He sighed. "I won't be here after next week."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Why?"

"McGonagall and I have to supervise detentions. The teams are being combined and have to clean every classroom in the castle together, and I gave William Clard extra detentions."

Hermione looked confused.

"He was the one who flung his bat at Janie. He gets to clean out all of the locker rooms with a toothbrush. Minerva was revolted at the idea and tried to get him locked up in the library. Madam Pince wanted someone...more responsible to clean off all of the books in the library. The last time that I sent a Slytherin, he thought it would be funny to rearrange and jinx the books closed."

---

That night, Janie was one of the only students that lay awake in the Hospital Wing. A boy was reading a book a few beds down from her and the Slytherin captain was playing some sort of game on paper. Madam Pomfrey only allowed them to stay up as long as they promised to be quiet and only leave their lights on; other than that, the room was completely dark. She laid awake, listening to the boy flipping pages and the other scratching on the paper; counting the tiles on the ceiling was only entertaining for so long.

_I should have taken that potion_, Janie thought, as she closed her eyes, trying to drift off to sleep.

A few minutes later, Dumbledore walked into the wing and surprisingly, he sat on the edge of Janie's bed.

"Janie?"

Janie's eyes snapped open. "Professor?" She asked, sitting up.

"Ah good, you are up," he whispered.

Janie nodded.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better," Janie said.

"You know, what you did earlier was a very honorable of you."

She looked at him.

"I'm sure if Mr. Potter had his way, he would have taken you elsewhere. Maybe disappear for a while and bring you back when everyone's anger had settled down," he said, his eyes emitting a soft twinkle. "And you stayed with your team. I'm sure even an older student, if given the chance, would have run. I'm pretty sure that half of the people in this room would have run…if given the choice, of course.

"I'm very proud of you…it takes a big person to do that. I know your parents are proud too-"

Janie gave Dumbledore a look. "All they really did was yell and lecture me. My dad even sent a howler."

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up. "Severus sent you a howler?"

Janie nodded.

"Even though your parents might seem angry on the outside, I am sure that they are proud of you. They just don't want you to do the same thing again."

Janie seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, my dad really didn't yell at me, like he hinted at in the howler."

"See?" Dumbledore said, smiling.

"He really didn't get to talk to me though," Janie sighed. "Professor McGonagall had him busy all day."

Dumbledore's eyes started to twinkle again. "I talked to Mr. Potter…and I know that he talked to your mother. And there's no doubt that she's going to talk to your father."

Janie was quiet for a while. "There's another thing," she said, and looked at her Professor sadly. "I-"

"Oh! I nearly forgot!" He exclaimed, and pulled something out of his pocket. "I believe you lost this," he said, and let the pendant drop, so that it would swing from his hand.

Janie gasped. "I thought that I'd never find it!"

Dumbledore handed it to her. "Things always have a way of getting back to us. I've been noticing that more and more as the years go by."

Janie smiled. "Thank you, sir."

Dumbledore smiled back. "Now get some sleep."

Janie nodded, and watched as Dumbledore left the wing.

---

The next morning in the Ravenclaw common room, the students woke up and realized that they were not alone. When the first group of students made their way out of their dormitories, they found their common room a shredded mess. The couches were torn and the armchairs were ripped. The bulletin board was a ruffled mess and books laid eaten everywhere.

"What did thi-"

Suddenly, someone let out a piercing scream.

"Oh my God! WHAT IS THAT?" A student asked, pointing at something sharp sticking out from under the couch.

"What is what?" Asked the Ravenclaw prefect.

"That," the student said, pointing again to the object.

"I…don't know," he said, as he lifted one of the ends of the sofa up.

"It's an animal!" Someone screamed.

Now that the creature was exposed, it shot out from under the sofa and started to run all around the room.

"It's a badger! Run!"

"Everyone stay calm!" The prefect said, but now most of the students were already down from their dormitories and were running around the room.

"It's going to attack us!"

"Help! Get Professor Flitwick!"

"GET OUT!"

The prefect was helpless in the room full of panicking people, and within seconds, the entire common room cleared out. As he looked around the room, he saw the badger staring at him and quickly 'headed for the hills' himself.

---

"What is going on?" Professor Flitwick squeaked, as the entirety of his house ran past him.

"A badger tore up the common room!" One student said as they ran by.

"Why are you all still running?" Professor Flitwick asked, but it was too late, as all of the students had already passed.

Meanwhile, in the library, other students found themselves in a similar situation…

"It ate my homework!" Jess Aarons yelled, as another badger sat in a corner, nibbling on her recently finished potions essay. "Give it back!" She shouted, and angrily approached the animal.

"Too bad you can't use that excuse," her friend said. "You used that one last week."

"I said," Jess began, getting dangerously close to the critter. "Give it," she reached out for her homework. "Back," she finished as she grasped on the parchment and pulled.

All of a sudden, the badger let out a strange noise and jumped on her, making Jess scream.

"GET IT OFF!" She cried, as her friend ran over and knocked it off of her with a book. "Run for your lives! It's going to kill us…I think it has rabies!" She yelled, running out of the library, several students following her.

A few of the more curious students went to see what was going on, when the badger emerged from the isle, bits of parchment hanging out of its mouth.

"Oh God, it does have rabies!" Someone yelled, stirring up panic in the library.

Soon, the corridors of Hogwarts were filled with running students. Not only were the badgers found in the Ravenclaw common room and the library, but one was also found cowering on the Grand Staircase.

"Did you catch them all?" McGonagall asked.

Professor Flitwick shook his head. "I was able to capture the one in the Ravenclaw common room and I believe that Remus was able to obtain the one in the library. The one in the stairwell was retrieved by the Head Girl. There's still one missing," the old wizard said. "You see, the badgers were numbered…like in a race. We've found one, two, and four…but the little guy labeled three is still missing."

"Have you searched all of the emptied classrooms?" McGonagall asked.

Remus shook his head, "Not yet."

McGonagall nodded. "Are all of the professors searching?"

"Well," Remus started. "Sybil refuses to come down from her tower, Pomona is searching the Hufflepuff common room and the kitchens, and Aurora is searching her tower. Hermione has searched Gryffindor tower and the Slytherin common room."

"She what?" McGonagall asked.

Remus nodded.

"Where is Severus?"

Remus shrugged. "Hermione doesn't know either. Where's Albus?"

"He's gathering all of the students in the Great Hall," she replied. "I believe that he should almost be done now…we should start heading there as well."

---

That morning, Janie was talking to Matt and Ardeal about Quidditch, when something in the doorway caught her eye: her dad was walking through the door with Trenton. Before he made it to the bed though, Madam Pomfrey caught him.

"Is that who I think it is?" The mediwitch asked, rushing over to the two.

"It depends on who you're thinking of-"

Madam Pomfrey slapped his free shoulder. "Give him here, Severus."

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have students to attend to?"

She held out her arms, while Severus rolled his eyes and gave him to her.

"I've already checked on the students. Besides, you're here in case anything happens," the older woman replied.

Severus rolled his eyes again and continued to Janie's bed; Ardeal instantly moved his chair next to Matt's bed.

"Good morning," Severus greeted, as he stood next to Janie's bed.

Janie looked up through her eyelashes. "Morning."

He sat down on the side of her bed.

"How's your hand?"

Janie raised her bandaged hand. "It feels the same, but Madam Pomfrey only got a chance to look at it for a minute. Someone had a nightmare last night, fell out of bed, and re-broke their arm. He's real embarrassed about it, so we're not allowed to say who it was."  
Severus held out his hand. "Can I see it?"

Janie gave him her hand. "Won't she be mad at you?"

"I'm not afraid of Madam Pomfrey," he replied, as he unwrapped her bandage.

Janie bit her bottom lip, "About yesterday, I'm-"

"It's alright," Severus interrupted her and waved his wand over her hand. "Your hand should be completely healed by tonight...You did land a good punch, though."

Janie blinked. "You're not mad?" She asked slowly.

He chose his words carefully. "I was, but...I heard what happened. Just promise me something - really promise me that you will walk away. Fighting doesn't solve anything."

Janie nodded. "Alright."

He smirked. "Good job, though. Clard's deserved that for a long time."

Janie grinned. "At least I didn't break his nose."

"I wouldn't have minded if you broke his nose. Don't ever tell your mother that I said that."

Janie's smiled broadened. "Don't worry, I won't."

---

"Unbelievable!" McGonagall announced to the Hall. "After the events that happened yesterday, someone has the nerve to do this!" She said, scanning all of the students. "I am cutting right to the point…Who did this?" She asked, and surprisingly, people started to rise out of their seats, making Professor Sprout squeak.

"We did it, Professor," the captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team announced.

"All of you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You released the badgers in the school?"

The boy nodded.

McGonagall was silent for a moment, "Why?"

"Professor, when we found out that the Gryffindor team had been punished, we thought that they would have their playing rights taken from them this year. That would mean that we would win the Quidditch Cup. We've decided that we need to earn that Cup; not get it handed to us. A trait of being a Hufflepuff is playing fair. What is the fairness in winning something if it's just handed to you?" He explained.

The entire student body and staff that were in the Hall stared at the captain, except Professor Sprout, who had her head in her hands, crying. No one was exactly sure if she was crying because she was so upset, or proud that her students acted upon behalf of Hufflepuff's traits.

"If that means that no one wins or Ravenclaw wins, then that's fine with us."

McGonagall raised her eyebrows, "Is that why a badger completely shredded the Ravenclaw common room?"

The Hall remained silent.

"Professor Dumbledore will be waiting for all of you in his office. Professor Sprout and I will follow you shortly," she said, and the Hufflepuff Quidditch team silently filed out.

---

Of course, word about what the Hufflepuff team did spread around school like wildfire. In no time at all, the Hospital Wing was buzzing with what happened.

"Can you believe that?" Mark Rhymer said. "Neckler would do such a thing for us?"

"For you? I'd like to think that they did it for themselves," the Slytherin captain commented.

"They would have done the same thing for you if we lost-"

"Like I said, it's for themselves-"

"Just because you only do things for yourself, does not mean that everyone else acts that way," Mark said.

"Who are you to tell me how I act? It's none of your business-"

"I'm just saying the obvious-"

"Boys!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, running out of her office. "Knock it off already? What did I tell you about fighting?"

"That it's childish and doesn't get you anywhere," someone replied.

"Thank you, but I wanted them to answer. Don't make me separate you two again," Madam Pomfrey said, wagging her finger and then returned to her office.

---

"Hermione, have you seen Severus anywhere?" McGonagall asked, right as she was about to make the descent into the dungeons.

"The last time I saw him was when he went to visit Janie this morning…I believe he was there before she even woke up. Then he had Trenton afterwards," Hermione replied. "I haven't seen him since."

The older witch sighed. "When you see him, can you tell him that we need his help looking for the badgers?"

"No problem," Hermione said, and quickly continued her way down the stairs. There was no way she wanted McGonagall to follow her.

---

"Severus?" Hermione called, as soon as she entered their quarters. "Severus?" She repeated, when no one answered her.

Confused, Hermione began to search their quarters for him. When she entered Trenton's room, she found the baby happily gurgling at her from his bed.

"What are you doing here?" She asked the baby. "You're supposed to be with your father," she said, picking him up. "He didn't just leav-" Hermione stopped when she turned around and saw Severus sound asleep in a chair on the other end of the room. "Oh! He's sleeping! And you didn't want to wake him up…how sweet of you!" Hermione said.

"Severus," Hermione said softly. "Severuuss," she repeated, but he still didn't move. "There was a time when he jumped when you did that," she told their son. "Why don't you wake daddy up?" She asked, and held Trenton over Severus' face.

As soon as Hermione put Trenton in arm's reach of his father, his little arms instantly reached out and lightly smacked him in the face.

Severus' eyes snapped open, "Trenton? What are you – Hermione?"

Hermione giggled. "Good morning! Welcome to Hogwarts, the new local zoo."

Severus groaned, while running a hand down his face, "Now what happened?"

Hermione let out a small laugh. "The Hufflepuff Quidditch team released badgers around the school, because of the events that happened yesterday. Everyone's been looking for you for over an hour now."

Severus rolled his eyes as he got up, "I suppose they still are?"

Hermione nodded. "I'll take care of Trenton."

"It never ends," Severus sighed. "McGonagall's down in the dungeons, isn't she?"

"Probably. I've already searched the Slytherin Common Room."

Severus stopped. "You did?"

Hermione nodded. "Since we were married, they've warmed up to me a bit. No more dirty looks to get out of their room."

"They better not give you anymore dirty looks," Severus said, as he left their quarters. It wasn't very long until he ran into McGonagall.

---

"Severus!" McGonagall exclaimed. "Where have you been? We've been looking for you all morning!"

Severus crossed his arms across his chest. "I've been with my son, Minerva."

"Are you aware of the problem?"

"The badgers?" He asked, his infamous eyebrow raised.

The older woman nodded.

"Have they all been found yet?"

"We're still looking for one more. We're afraid that it has gotten into a secret passage-"

"Then check them all," Severus replied dryly.

"We don't know where they all are!"

"How do you even know that you're missing one? Did they tell you?"

"They didn't need to," McGonagall replied, nonchalantly. "They were labeled."

"Labeled?"

"Yes. The badgers had the numbers one, two, and four on them. We're missing the third one!"

Severus stared at her, his eyes blinking.

"There is no third one!"

"Yes there is!" McGonagall replied. "They're numbered! We are-"

"Minerva, they did that on purpose! I bet they're getting a riot watching everyone search for a 'number three.'"

McGonagall stared at him dumbfounded. "You can't be so sure…"

Severus rolled his eyes. "We did the same thing when I was in school. We released two snakes and labeled them 'one' and 'three' and set them loose in our Head's quarters. Really now. I can't believe you fell for that. Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to my quarters and I don't want to be bothered with something stupid like this again."

McGonagall stared blankly at him for a minute. "They are in so much trouble when I get to them!"

Severus waved her off as he continued back down the corridor, making her jaw pop open.

---

The morning when all of the students were released from the Hospital Wing, Professor McGonagall gathered all of the Quidditch teams in the Great Hall.

"Good morning," McGonagall said. "May I have everyone's attention? Due to the recent events, and as much as it pains me to say this...the Quidditch Cup match is cancelled."

The Gryffindor team gasped in unison.

"All of the professors and I have decided that this behavior _will not_be tolerated. Quidditch has been suspended this term and will be resumed in the Fall. Slytherin has been eliminated for attacking another team and Gryffindor has been eliminated for fighting. Before anybody starts yelling, Gryffindor was eliminated for fighting, because you could have walked away and let the professors handle it. Hufflepuff is also eliminated for releasing three badgers in the school and sending everybody on a wild goose chase. Ravenclaw would have won the Cup, but Professor Flitwick was against it. It was his belief that your team stayed out of everything to ensure that the Cup was yours. Apparently, he overheard a conversation about revenge on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, until somebody else had spoken up about it.

"Now remember, detention starts tomorrow night for the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams after dinner in the Potions Classroom and the Hufflepuff team will report to Professor Hagrid at the same time. I hope everyone will remember this and let it be a lesson to all of you.

---

"Welcome to your first detention," McGonagall started. "We have decided that you are going to work your way up from the bottom. Tonight you are only going to clean the potions classroom, because you are scrubbing the cauldrons as well."

"You're lucky that it's not with toothbrushes," Severus remarked, from his desk. "Put all of wands on my desk before you start. All of the cleaning supplies are against the back wall," he said, pointing the neat stack. "Do you wish to add anything, Professor McGonagall?"

She nodded. "Now remember, these combined detentions are designed to get you to work _together_. Not just the Gryffindors helping the Gryffindors and vice-versa. I want half of one team on one side, and the other half on the opposite side. You're allowed to talk quietly, but I don't want _any_ fighting. Is that understood?"

Several replies were murmured.

"Good. Now get started!"

---

"What's this?" McGonagall asked, a little while later.

"Newt eyeballs," Severus replied.

She pursed her lips. "I really don't like your classroom, Severus," the older lady said, when there was a soft knock at the door leading to his office.

McGonagall jumped at the chance to move away from his jars. "I'll get it!"

"Oh, Hermione!" She greeted, when she opened the door. "And you've brought Trenton!"

Hermione smiled. "Hello, Minerva."

"What brings you here?"

"Severus said he'd play with Trenton while I finished grading the rest of my exams. The students are getting quite antsy."

"I'll take him!" She said happily, as she reached for the baby. "Hello, Trenton!"

"Here's his bag," Hermione said, and handed her the object. "I should be back before he goes to sleep. It shouldn't take too long to finish."

"Go, go," McGonagall ushered. "He'll be just fine."

Hermione smiled and pointed at Severus, who was making his way over to them. "Watch his face."

"Goodbye, Severus," Hermione said out loud, making several students turn their heads and Severus freeze. "I'll be back before he goes to sleep."

He quickly closed the distance between them, but before he had a chance to say anything, Hermione reached up and placed a peck on his cheek; several students stopped working.

"Bye," she said grinning, and disappeared through his office's door.

"Why Severus, I do believe that you're actually blushing," McGonagall remarked.

His eyes snapped to the rest of the room, where everyone was watching him.

"What's so interesting?" He asked. "Get back to work, or you can change his diaper,"Severus said, pointing at Trenton.

Immediately, thirteen heads turned the other way.

"Look Trenton, your father's turning red," McGonagall said, as he snapped around and walked away.

---

About an hour later, while the students were cleaning out the cauldrons, one of the younger Slytherin players turned to Janie.

"What's it like having Professor Snape as a dad?"

"What?"

"Don't get mad," he said quickly. "It's a serious question."

Janie glanced at her father. He must have said something to make McGonagall angry, because she was glaring at him. ("Now just listen to Aunt Minnie-" "_Aunt Minnie_? More like grandma," Severus remarked.)

"Does he act like a professor all of the time?" He asked hesitantly.

"Only when I'm in trouble," Janie replied. "What's he like as Head of Slytherin?"

"It usually depends on his mood and what we did. It must suck for him during Quidditch season, because we're his team, but you're his daughter. Not only that, but you're on the Gryffindor team. In the beginning, he told the team to worry about scoring goals. I always thought that he wanted you to catch the snitch, but for us to still win. You know who Garrett Billows is?"

"The Slytherin Captain."

He nodded. "He doesn't like you or Professor Snape very much. Before, Professor Snape was always involved with our Quidditch team...Garrett said that he used to hold team meetings and everything. Lately, he's hardly done anything - it's like he's trying to distance himself. Ever since you were in that Quidditch accident last year, he's made himself more sparce. He told us last year that no one was allowed to touch you. Professor Snape actually tried to expel the two beaters and permanently kick the seeker off of the team. He told them that there were many other students who'd want to take their spots. In the end, Dumbledore gave them detentions with Filch and Professor Snape made them clean his classroom with toothbrushes."

"Does everybody hate me?" Janie asked.

"No," he said. "Garrett was the only one, really. All of us have a lot of respect for Professor Snape, and well, you're his daughter. If you weren't in Gryffindor...But after word spread around that you punched out that seventh year last year - a _Gryffindor_ seventh year, some of us figured that you might not be so bad. I mean, Scott's your best friend. He spends more time with you than with any of us. You'd be surprised on what some people think if you'd talk to them."

---

In the end, it took the teams three weeks to scrub every classroom in the castle. Once the weather started to get nice, the teams agreed that their time would be better spent outside than in the classroom. To McGonagall, it was a miracle that the teams worked so diligently together. On the other hand, Severus knew that as soon as the detentions ended, the teams would go back to hating each other. What he was surprised to see was that most of the two teams stopped glowering at each other in the corridors.

After the team detentions ended, the other detentions with Filch ended shortly after. Of course, not without a two-foot long essay on the importance of teamwork and unity due, assigned by McGonagall (Severus wanted a three-foot long essay on the repercussions of fighting with research to back it up.). The last few months passed quickly enough, with Ravenclaw winning the House Cup for the second year in a row; none of the other Houses were remotely close.

Summer was gladly welcomed by all, except for Severus, who could do without the Fridays. Every Friday, Harry and Ginny would visit, and when Ron wasn't busy, he would occasionally pop in as well. To Severus' displeasure, they started the Friday term ended. If that wasn't bad enough, Janie always was around her three friends; two of which are boys. He wished Janie had more girl friends. It wasn't even a week into break, when Hermione finally threatened to lock Severus in the basement if he didn't stop watching out of the windows to make sure nothing "funny" was going on.

On the first Friday, Severus was able to get a reprieve when Ginny showed up alone. There was no way that he was going to sit around and listen to the two talk about "woman subjects."

---

"Have you thought of any names yet?" Hermione asked, once they were sitting down.

Ginny nodded. "James for the boy, of course. I really thought that the girl's name was going to be Lily, but Harry said that he didn't want to have his parents as his children. Instead, we came up with Evalyn, since his mum's maiden name was Evans."  
Hermione smiled. "Lyn for short?"

"Yep," she replied. "We're going to have James Arthur Potter and Evalyn Fay Potter. My mum cried all night when I told her that Evalyn's middle name is after her brother, Fabian."

"It's almost going to be like we're there again..."

"Hogwarts?" Ginny asked.

Hermione nodded. "Trenton, James, and Evalyn will all be in the same year. Neville's daughter, Chrissie, Patrick, Aiden-"

"Who's Aiden?"

"I never told you?" Hermione asked.

"No," she replied.

"Aiden is my cousin's son. He came over on Wednesday saying that Aiden accidentally did magic. He was worried for him, so we went to Diagon Alley to get a shirt that absorbed magical 'explosions.' All of them will be going to be at school at the same time," she finished.

It was quiet for several moments, until Ginny suddenly slammed her hand down on the table. "Ron's got a girlfriend!"

Hermione tried to look surprised. "Really?"

"He told us last night! We're going out to dinner tomorrow to meet her...Kim. Well, not all of us...he doesn't want Fred or George to know yet. And he doesn't want to introduce her to my mum and dad yet. I mean, can you believe that he's been going out with her for nearly five months and never told us anything?"

Hermione took a sip of her tea.

"Hermione Snape...you don't look to surprised at all of this."

Hermione gave a small smile. "Ron ran into Severus and I while we were Christmas shopping. She was there with him. I promised him that I wouldn't tell anybody."

"He brought her Christmas shopping?" Ginny exclaimed.

Hermione shrugged. "We were Christmas shopping, I don't know what they were doing."

"Did you know that she's a muggle?"

"That, I didn't know," Hermione replied.

"He's not telling her anything yet. He said that he's been hiding all of his magical stuff. You know, I haven't seen him like this around a girl, except for you."

"Maybe he's finally going to get married-"

"Did he tell you something?"

"No," Hermione answered. "We only spoke for five minutes. Honestly," she added, when she saw Ginny's face.

"So anyways...You never told me what happened at the end of school, Hermione!"

---

Next Friday was almost the same, except Ginny, Harry, _and_ Ron all came. Ron was talking about Kim for the tenth different time last night, and Ginny was about ready to hex him.

"She's great!" Ron exclaimed. "And guess what?"

"What?" Ginny asked, twirling her wand in her fingers.

"She loves magic!"

Ginny dropped her wand. "You _told_ her?"

"No," Ron replied, like she wasn't listening to what he was saying. "She always goes on about how she loves magic...anything magical. Like fairytales or romance comedies...or that place called Gisney."

"Disney?" Hermione asked.

Ron blinked. "That's a 'D?'"

Hermione nodded.

"_Really_? I always thought it was a 'G!'"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Even _I _knew it was a 'D,' Ron."

---

The next Friday, Ginny came over in a huff, dragging Harry behind her. Hermione could only get a "hello" in, when she exploded in their living room.

"Can you believe that Ron went to Disney? Of all places!"

"You're just jealous, because you've never gone," Harry said, sitting down.

"Why would he want to go to Disney?" Ginny asked.

"Let's go then," Harry supplied. "Growing up, I've always wanted to go..."

Ginny glared at him, "Harry James Potter, I'm due in a month - there's no way that I am running off to Disney."

"Oh!"

"Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"See, I bet now they're going-"

"Kim likes magic, right?"

It went straight over Ginny's head. "Yeah. Fred and George tease him all of the time," she replied.

Hermione smiled. "I bet he's proposing-"

"Shut up!" Ginny exclaimed. "Merlin's bloody arse, I bet you're right!"

Hermione's eyes widened.

"She's been cursing a lot lately," Harry explained. "The twins are always gabbing her-"

"He took her to her dream place to propose - and he didn't tell anyone!"

Suddenly, Harry jumped up.

"What are you doing?" Ginny asked.

"I'm going to go congratulate him-"

"Harry, sit your arse back down on that sofa," Ginny commanded.

Severus went to walk in the room at the same time, but once he saw what was going on, he quickly backed out.

"I wonder if he's going to do it at the castle-"

"Castle? What castle?" Ginny questioned.

"Cinderella's castle-"

"You want to go, but you didn't know about the castle?" Harry asked.

Ginny looked about ready to murder him. "Shut up, Harry."

"When did he go?" Hermione asked.

"Harry said Ron took the rest of the day off yesterday to surprise her," Ginny replied, as Janie came running into the room.

"You have a letter, Mum," she said and handed her the object. "Hi everybody...Bye everybody," she said, as she ran out of the room again, as Severus appeared in the doorway.

"She has friends over," Hermione said, when she saw the looks on Harry and Ginny's faces. "It's from your mum, Ginny."

_Dear Hermione and Severus,_

_Hello dears_!_ I hope your summer is going well_! _We're having a summer get-together next Saturday, and I'd love it if you would be able to come_. _Come to think of it, I haven't seen Trenton in a while, either_!_ If you can't make it, please let me know, or you could just tell Ginny_. _Hope all is well_!

-_Mrs_. _Weasley_

After Hermione read the letter, she handed it to Ginny.

"Did you know about that?" Harry asked.

Ginny shook her head. "She was talking about it, but I didn't know when. You can come, right?" She asked, looking at Hermione.

"Of course," she replied.

"Go where?" Severus asked.

Ginny handed him the letter.

"Doesn't Janie have friends coming over that day?"

"Janie has friends over all of the time. Nice try, Severus. Of course we'll be there, Ginny," Hermione replied.

---

"It's great to see you again!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, when Hermione walked through the door. "Janie!" She continued and hugged her. "Patrick and Michael are upstairs. Trenton!" She exclaimed, and picked him right out of Severus' arms.

"I think you need more grandchildren," Severus remarked.

"Janie and Trenton are just like my grandchildren," Mrs. Weasley replied.

"Aunt Hermione!"

Hermione looked down to see Patrick running into the room.

"I can say your name!"

Hermione laughed. "Good job, Patrick!"

"George has been working with him to get everybody's names right," Mrs. Weasley explained.

Patrick turned to Severus. "Your name is harder though, Uncle Seh...Uncle Severus."

Before Severus got a chance to say anything, Hermione hugged the little boy.

"That's so good, Patrick! You must have worked very hard!"

Mrs. Weasley smiled. "He runs around calling Ginny Ginevra. She absolutely hates it."

"Aunt Hermione, I've run into a problem," Patrick said, tugging on her shirt; Hermione crouched down. "Mummy says that I'm going to have a sister soon, but I want Janie to be my sister."

"You can have more than one sister, Patrick. Janie has two brothers - you and Trenton."

He gasped. "I never thought of that before!"

"Mum-"

Hermione glanced up to see Ron entering through the back door.

"Ron-" Mrs. Weasley stopped dead when she saw that there was a girl behind him. Immediately, her eyes went to the dishes washing themselves in the sink. "Ronald-"

"It's alright, Mum," he said, as Mrs. Weasley quickly turned to Severus.

"Here Severus, take your son," she said and quickly handed him off again.

Ron grabbed Kim's hand and smiled broadly.

"Mum, we're getting married!" He said proudly. "Kim loves magic! She thinks it's brilliant!"

A piercing scream filled the house, followed by a loud, "_Oh Ron_!"

"I _knew it_!" Came Ginny's bellow. "Harry, go get him for me!"

Suddenly, the entire house (minus Ginny) were in the kitchen.

Feeling oddly crowded amongst the sea of red, Hermione and Severus said their congratulations and slipped from the room and found Ginny.

"Did Harry give it to him?" Ginny asked, from her seat on the sofa.

"I think your mum's too busy choking him," Hermione replied.

"After all of the happiness wears off, she'll give it to him," Ginny said. "She's never even seen her before this and he shows up engaged."

"I did that to my parents," Hermione said.

Ginny looked at her. "Did you get in trouble?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Ron will get it...Your mum's nice, Hermione. One thing is for sure though, I really don't want to miss that."

---

A little while later, Remus found Severus and sat next to him. "You got dragged to another party again?"

Severus' eyes looked around the room, pausing on Trenton. He sighed, "Never, in a million years, did I think that I would go to every one of Weasley's and Potter's events."

"If I told you that thirteen years ago, would you do anything different?"

He was quiet for a few moments. "I would go after her."

Remus was hesitant. "Why didn't you?"

"I...always thought that she would be the one to say something. Even though the war was going on, there were ways to keep her safe - Dumbledore could have helped us."

"You would have lost your job if you went to him," Remus pointed out quietly.

"The job wouldn't have mattered," Severus replied softly. "After than, I was being called to meetings for Voldemort and the Order...she didn't take the meetings with the Death Eaters too well. She always thought that I'd come back a bloody mess. I didn't want to put her through that...especially in her condition."

"After the war?"

"After everything was said and done, she disappeared. If she was happy, I'd rather her have happiness than me achieving only my own," he replied.

Remus finally looked to where Severus was looking and saw Hermione handing Trenton a new toy.

"You are a very lucky man, Severus," Remus commented.

"And I wouldn't give it up for the world."

---

**A/N: As always, thanks again to everyone who has read and reviewed...it is really appreciated! I have been writing a prequel to the story and I put a few excerpts up on the website (Follow the "Homepage" link on my profile.). I'm also currently rewriting the epilogue (Takes place at a wedding...Any guesses whose?) to give more detail about what happens. **


	37. Deleted Scenes

_**Disclaimer: I do not own **__**Harry Potter**__**, nor am I making any money off of this. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling.**_

---

***PLEASE READ***

**This is ****NOT**** the epilogue! **

**Since it's taking me forever to finish it, I thought that I would update with some of the scenes that I deleted from the story. I am currently piecing together the epilogue and am hoping to have the whole story finished by my birthday (July 26). ****(I'm hoping with the constant helicopters waking me up every morning [I live right by Burr Oak Cemetery…How many people have heard about that? I heard it went around the world…] I'll have lots of extra time finishing this!)**

**As a side note, I saw **_**Harry Potter: The Exhibition**_** on opening weekend and everyone really has to see it!! It's really amazing!**

---

**Cut after Christmas.**

"Do you know who came over a few days before Christmas?"

Eileen looked at her son. "No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"My father-"

"He _what_? _Tobias_ came _here_?"

Severus stared at her. "Dumbledore brought him."

"What in Merlin's name did _he_ want? I'm surprised he hasn't died from alcohol poisoning yet."

"Apparently, he's sober," Severus informed her.

"Codswallop."

"He said that he had to go through rehab-"

"That muggle thing? Do you know how many times I tried to send him there? What in the _world_ changed his mind?"

Severus stared at his mother; he hadn't seen her this angry in a _long_ time.

"He got to choose from jail time or going to a rehabilitation center."

"You _talked_ to him about it?"

"Did I have a choice? He showed up on my doorstep, while Dumbledore invited himself into my house."

"I just imagined that you would have slammed the door in his face," Eileen said simply.

---

**This was cut from the last chapter (takes place during Spring break).**

"Hermione?" Her mother's voice called from the fireplace. "Are you here?"

The sound of quick footsteps was heard running through the hall.

"Mum?" Hermione asked, once she entered the room. "Is there something wrong?"

"Someone needs to speak with you. Can they come through?"

"Sure…Who is it?" Hermione asked, but her mother was already gone and the flames were green.

Suddenly, Tim fell onto the floor holding Aiden; Mrs. Granger following closely behind.

"I can't believe that you can do that!" Tim exclaimed, getting to his feet.

"Hey Hermione!"

"Tim! Is there something wrong?"

He set Aiden down. "Hermione, I think Aiden might be a wizard. He got really upset this morning and blew all of our books off of the bookshelf. Everyone's alright, but it was…It was crazy."

"Severus thought that he might be," Hermione replied. "He was able to use my wand that Christmas."

"What do I do?" Tim asked. "What if something happens while we're out?"

Hermione smiled. "Mum, why don't you take Aiden and see Janie? She should be in her movie room."

Hermione watched the two leave. "This is exciting."

Tim looked confused.

"Now we know that the magic comes from our mothers' side of the family. I've always wondered about that, my research has only gotten me so far. And Aiden will be going to school with Trenton!"

"You're sure that he's a wizard?" Tim inquired.

Hermione nodded. "Muggles can't use wands. Severus and I didn't want to tell you, just incase the wand thing was somehow an accident."  
"You and Severus teach at that school, right? You'll be able to watch out for him."

Hermione laughed. "That's still years away, Tim."

He ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I'm just worried. I don't want Aiden to hurt himself…I have no idea how this stuff works."

"If it helps, they have things that Aiden can wear to help prevent magical outbreaks."

"How does that work?"

"They sell things...Like a shirt that he can wear that will absorb an outburst of magical energy. It's useful when you go out in public. As he gets older, it will get more controlled. Remember Harry?"

Tim nodded.

"He once made glass at the zoo disappear."

"That's not helping any, Hermione."

"As he gets older, it will be less of an outburst and tuned more towards to what he wants."

Tim looked confused. "Like he can get what he wants all of time."

"More like if he wants a cookie and it's out of reach, he can make the cookie levitate to him. Harry used to hate his aunt's haircuts and his hair would grow back overnight."

"Where do they sell those clothes?"

"Diagon Alley," Hermione replied.

"Never heard of it before."

"It's a magical shopping street."

"When can we go to this Degan Alley?"

"Diagon Alley, Tim. We can go now, if you'd like-"

"That's great!"

Hermione smiled. "Just let me tell Severus. He's downstairs playing with his potions."

"Playing with potions?"

"He hates it when I say he 'plays.' According to him, playing is for children, while brewing is for adults."

"Potions is like Chemistry, right?"

Hermione nodded. "Only you can consume most of them. He has an entire laboratory downstairs," Hermione said, leading him out of the room.

---

**This was also removed from the last chapter. This takes place during the "Quidditch Incident."**

"I'm pretty sure that you're all wondering why everyone is gathered here," Dumbledore said, while all of the room's inhabitants exchanged looks. "Oh! Not to worry! This is a good thing," he assured, motioning for a young man to step forwards.

"Hello, my name is Brenden Clairford. My father, Octivus Clairford, recently passed away and for those who don't know, my father was the creator of Chocolate Frogs."

Ron gasped.

"When he passed, he left the company to me. My first step with the company is to modernize the cards. What better way to do that, than to give all of the war heroes a card? My father was always hesitant about giving a young person a card, in case they 'changed their ways.' I wa-" the man stopped and everyone looked at Ron, who looked like he was going to have a fit. "Are you alright?"

Ron nodded.

"Mr. Weasley will be fine," Dumbledore started. "He's an avid Chocolate Frog Card collector."

"Ah," Brenden said. "Our goal is to introduce ten new cards throughout the year. Everyone in this room will be on a card, and I've already spoken with Professor Dumbledore about his new card. The people we have receiving cards are: Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Hermione Snape, Ronald Weasley, Remus Lupin, which should be everyone in the room. We also have an Alastor Moody and a Nymphadora Tonks. We're still debating on the last several candidates for the last card. Any objections?"

"Who'd be crazy to refuse?" Ron exclaimed. "We'll do it!"

Brenden smiled. "Of course, everyone will receive an endorsement as well as a plaque containing their card and its release date. If this goes well, we're going to be releasing ten new cards every year. We've fallen over the wayside the past few years, and with those Magnificent Blunders Cards coming out soon-"

"The what?" Ron asked.

"Magnificent Blunders Cards – Weasley Wizard Wheezes are coming out with cards featuring famous wizarding blunders."

"Are you serious?" Ron asked.

"Oh yes. And Fred and George Weasley and slated for a Chocolate Frog card within the next two years. We're trying to mix famous, familiar faces with historical figures to spark children's' interests again."

"Looks like they're still mad at you," Harry whispered to Ron. "Next time I would tell your family before you run off and get engaged."

"Hopefully, there won't be a next time," Ron replied.

---

**This scene was taken from the old epilogue, and is currently a part of **_**Over and Over, it felt so Right**_**.  
**

"Janie, all I'm asking for is five minutes," Hermione said.

"I know, Mum," Janie replied.

"Just while I go back to the office-"

"We'll be fine," Janie assured.

"You can't turn your back for one minute on him," Hermione continued. "That goes for the both of you," she added, pointing between Janie and Scott. "Last time someone turned their back for a minute, he pulled Matchbox's tail and he got scratched across the face."

Janie perked up, "Who was it?"

"I'm not telling," Hermione replied.

"Mum, we're fine though," Janie said. "Trust me. We won't let Trenton out of our sight."

Hermione smiled. "Alright. I will be back. If there's any problem at all, feel free to interrupt your father's detention. He's the only one so far all year to give a detention on a Saturday morning," Hermione said and left their quarters.

Janie sat on the couch next to Scott and started a conversation, while Trenton was busy tinkering with his toys on the floor in front of him. A few minutes later, Trenton walked up to Janie.

"Janie, can you fw'ix this fow me?" Trenton asked, holding up a toy to his older sister. "P'ease?"

"Of course," Janie replied and took the offered toy. With a few seconds, she fixed the object and handed it back to her brother.

"T'ank you," he said happily, and bounced away with his toy.

"You're welcome," Janie smiled.

"He knows his manners already?" Scott asked.

"Yeah," Janie answered. "My parents were dead set on making sure he learned them early."

Another minute went by when Trenton grew bored of his toys. Instead, he shifted his attention to watching Janie and Scott talk. Even though he didn't know everything that they were saying and he had _no idea_ what in the world a Plumpton Pass was, the two's expressions were funny. It wasn't until Janie hauled off and smacked Scott did Trenton jump up.

"Janie!" Trenton exclaimed.

Janie's eyes widened as she realized what she had done. _Oh crap. _

"Janie, you hit 'em!" Trenton said.

"Umm…No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"No, I patted him on the arm. See?" Janie asked, patting Scott on the arm.

Trenton's eyes widened, "No! You hit him! I saw. Mum said no hitting."

"You're stuck now," Scott whispered in Janie's ear.

"You see, Trenton," Janie began. "Mum said no hitting people _older_ than you."

Trenton looked mad, "Daddy-"

"Said no kicking people," Janie replied.

"Is Scott owl'da dan you?" Trenton asked.

"Nope," Janie replied.

"G'wandpa Al'bwus is owl'da, you can't hit him."

"Why would I hit him?" Janie asked.

"'Cause I did an' I got in twu'ble," Trenton mumbled.

"You hit Dumbledore?" Scott asked and started to laugh.

Trenton nodded.

"Janie, I love your brother," Scott said.

**---**

**This scene is from the current epilogue, but I couldn't fit it in. However, it is still relevant, so make sure you don't forget it! :o)**

"Who's over now?" Severus asked, after walking in from his private laboratory.

"No one…Why?"

"Then who is Trenton talking to?"

Hermione suddenly appeared out of their room. "What do you mean, 'talking?' No one is over."

"He is talking to somebody," Severus stated. "He doesn't normally talk out loud when he's playing by himself."

The two fell silent and heard Trenton's voice. Immediately, they had their wands out and Severus nearly mowed Hermione over to get to the room. Once they were there, Severus swung the door open and Trenton dropped his toy.

"Who's in here with you, Trenton?"

Trenton pointed behind them, but when they turned around, nobody was there.

"Trenton, can you tell us who it was?" Hermione asked softly.

He nodded and pointed right behind her. "Right there," Trenton said, as Severus checked his closet.

"Trenton, nobody is—Oh my God!" Hermione exclaimed when she turned around and found an object floating in front of her.

Severus looked up and a glowered. "PEEVES!"

The poltergeist cackled.

"What are you doing here?"

"Playing with the wee Snape lad," Peeves replied.

"No you're not," Severus replied.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione-"

"Sshh, Severus."

The poltergeist floated fleetingly. "He's downright rotten to Filch," he spit the last word. "He managed to pull his beard _and_ fall on his fur ball. The other day, that mangy cat ate a piece of his candy and started to choke. I like him…He's going to be great one day."

"Not in that sense," Severus said. "I don't want you around Trenton and I don't want you back here."

Peeves rolled his eyes. "You can't stop me."

"Watch me," Severus said, pulling back out his wand.

Peeves stuck out his tongue. "I'll be back," he said, before zooming off, his laugh echoing throughout the room.

---

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who keeps reading this story! I'm sorry again for the length of time it took me to update! I really hope to get the chapter all done very soon! Thanks again for reading and reviewing! It's really appreciated!**

**(Psstt…Visit my Profile Page for a poll about **_**The Last Heir**_**.)**


	38. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Harry Potter**_**, nor am I making any money off of this. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

**As promised, here's my birthday present to you…The Epilogue! Thanks to everyone who has kept up with the story, it's been a tremendous run!**

**It takes place three years later, the summer after Janie's fifth year (She is sixteen). **There is a scene in italics, which takes place in the past****

**---**

**June, three years later…**

"Severus!" Hermione called. "Trenton's coming towards you."

Severus looked up, he was just starting to get his clothes out for the–another wedding. He had been to too many weddings over the past few years...four to be exact. Ron and Draco ended up being married a week apart, and then one of the Patil twins eloped (Why Hermione made him go was beyond him.). At least Fred's wedding wasn't somewhere exotic (Ron was married in Disney), even though he didn't want to be back in the castle so soon.

"Trenton?" Severus called, and the little boy with curly brown hair bounced into the room. As soon as he saw his father, he giggled and ran into the other room.

"He's still wet, Severus!" Hermione shouted. "Don't slip!"  
Trenton peeked out from around the couch.

"Trenton-"

Trenton stuck his tongue out and crawled away under the table.

"C'mon, Trenton, you need to get dressed."

"Catch me!" He exclaimed and ran towards his dad. Right at he went to dive under Severus' legs, Severus reached down to grab him. Unfortunately, he only got a hold on Trenton's shirt and the little boy slipped right out of it.

"At least your mother managed to get underwear on you this time," Severus mused, and Trenton laughed.

"No! That does not mean that you take them off, Trenton! Those do not come off, unless you are in the bathroom!"

The little boy smirked devishly and started towards the bathroom, when Hermione suddenly appeared in the doorway. "I don't think so, buddy."

Right as Trenton turned around to run, he ran right into his dad's legs.

"Caught you," Severus said and hoisted his son into the air by his feet.

Hermione covered her face. "Severus, you know I don't like that," she said, as Trenton started to laugh.

"He does," Severus countered with a smirk.

"Put him right side up," Hermione said. "We have to be in the Entrance Hall soon."

Trenton let out a giggle as Severus turned him back. "Look Trenton, she's telling us to get ready and I don't see-"

"I'm going!" Hermione exclaimed.

"That's called 'the pot calling the kettle black,' Trenton."

"I heard that!" Hermione shouted from the other room.

Severus laughed and carried Trenton to his room.

---

After a few minutes, Severus was finally able to get Trenton almost completely ready – if only he didn't forget his son's jacket in the other room.

"Wait right here, Trenton. I'll be right back," Severus informed him and left the room, returning less than a minute later.

Of course, it had only taken the boy several seconds to get his shirt and bowtie off.

"All we have to do is…" Severus paused and eyed the white ball on the floor.

"Trenton, we have to get ready for Uncle Fred's wedding. You can't go without anything on."

"Mummy says that I look handsome no matter what I wear."

"I think she was referring to clothes."

"But I don't wanna wear that," Trenton said. "I want to be like you."

Severus sighed. "Your mother will kill me if you don't wear that."

"You wear it."

"Trenton-" Severus stopped when he saw the look on his son's face.

"Please, Dad?"

"Alright," Severus said. "I'll just transfigure mine-"

He stopped as Trenton smiled, ran, and brought back his shirt.

"The blue too," the little boy said, holding up his Cerulean blue cummerbund.

Severus sighed again. "The blue too," he agreed.

---

"Are you ready yet?" Hermione called.

"Just a minute," Severus replied, as he threw on his white jacket. "Ready Trenton?"

He nodded. "Ready Mummy?"

"No, Trenton, she's-"

"I'm ready!" Hermione said, walked into the room, and immediately smiled.

"My boys are all ready!" She exclaimed and opened her arms.

"Men," Trenton corrected, running up to Hermione.

She laughed and picked him up.

"I'm the little man!"

"Yes you are. And you two match! Why are you matching?"

"I want to be just like dad," Trenton explained.

Hermione became putty. "Aw! Trenton! That is so sweet!"

He smiled brightly.

"So you're all ready then?"

"Where's Janie?" The little boy asked.

"She's meeting us down there," Hermione answered. "Aunt Ginny needed her help hanging some last minute decorations."

"Then let's go!" Trenton exclaimed, pointing at the door. "Faster!"

Hermione and Severus laughed as they left and began the trek to the Entrance Hall.

---

The wedding was rather exciting – it was the first one to be performed on Hogwarts' Quidditch Field. (Normally, witches and wizards alike paid a hefty amount to get married on a professional Quidditch field, but Fred and Angelina insisted on having their wedding where they first met.) Throughout the entirety of the wedding, snitches zoomed throughout the crowd and quaffles flew overhead. Right as they were pronounced husband and wife, bludgers collided and exploded right behind them.

After the wedding, everyone retreated to the enormous tent that was set up right outside of the field. Even though it was outside, it resembled the inside of a large banquet hall.

Shortly after everyone ate, Hermione ran right into McGonagall (Luckily though, Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen.).

"Hermione! And Trenton! Don't you look handsome?"

Trenton smiled broadly. "My dad's matching me!"

"Is he?"

He nodded quickly.

"Well, I must get a picture of him then," McGonagall replied and then turned to Hermione. "I can't believe that everyone is married! I never thought that I would go to so many weddings! I-" she paused when she felt someone tugging on her robes.

When McGonagall looked down, she saw Trenton looking at her.

"Can you go over there again?" Trenton asked, pointing to the side of her.

McGonagall nodded, stepping back into the light.

The little boy's eyes widened, "Wow, you're really old!"

"Trenton!" Hermione exclaimed.

He pointed at McGonagall. "Her skin is all liney!"

"Trenton Alexander Snape!"

"She is! Daddy said that Grandpa Albus is too!"

Hermione's eyes widened and she started to turn pink. "Trenton, what did we say about not being nice?"

"It's bad," he replied sullenly.

"Then please don't say-"

Trenton brightened. "I didn't – Daddy said it. He said that they're like prunes."

"When did he say that?"

"When we ate."

Hermione's eyes nearly fell right out of her head. "Your father was joking."

"No he wasn't."

"Well, I think it's time for us to tell your father what he did wrong," Hermione said and then turned to McGonagall. "I'm so sorry, Minerva."

She looked slightly amused.

"For both Trenton and my husband."

McGonagall waved her off. "It's alright."

Hermione shook her head. "It's not."

After Hermione dragged Trenton away, she was stopped by Neville, giving McGonagall the perfect opportunity to pay a visit to Severus.

---

"Why is Trenton holding Evalyn's hand?" Severus asked.

"Mum told him too," Janie replied.

"She _what_?" He asked, turning around to look at Janie.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Mum told him that a boy holds a girl's hand if he likes her. He did it earlier in front of mum and Ginny and they thought it was the cutest thing."

Severus' eyes widened, as Janie spotted someone headed straight for them.

"Have fun, Dad," Janie said, as she quickly disappeared; Severus having no idea of the reason behind her quick escape.

"Severus," McGonagall called, once she was standing behind him.

She smiled as he went rigid.

"Minerva-"

"Prune, Severus?" She asked, right after he turned around.

He looked confused. "No, I don't like-"

"Prune," she repeated. "I spoke with your son."

Severus' eyes widened.

"Trenton told me that I was 'liney,' like a 'prune.'"

He raised an eyebrow. "He did?"

"Mm-hm."

"Where did he learn that from?" Severus asked, crossing his arms. "Probably Peeves. I told Remus it was a bad idea for him to let those two play together."

"He said that he learned it from _you_, Severus."

His eyebrows shot up. "Really? I don't recall…"

"I won't forget this!" She said, wagging her finger at him.

He smirked.

She smiled in return and pointed behind him. "Looks like you might get yours after all."

Severus glanced back and saw Trenton and Evalyn Potter heading straight for him.

When he turned back around, McGonagall was already on her way back to her table.

---

"Hey Ginny!" Janie said, as she sat next to her and put a book on the table.

"You brought it!" Ginny exclaimed and picked up Janie's scrapbook.

"Yep," Janie replied. "Lyss bought me a camera for my birthday, so I have a lot of cool pictures now. It starts at Christmas…I really couldn't take a lot of pictures before then. The camera my mum bought me isn't suited for Hogwarts. And she makes me leave it at home."

"I'd bring it anyway," Ginny grinned, as she flipped through the red and green pages. "This one is adorable…Can I have a copy?" She asked, pointing to a picture of Trenton, Evalyn, and James.

"Of course," Janie replied.

"Who's this?" Ginny paused at a dark blue page. "It looks like—_Is that Snape's dad_?"

Janie nearly laughed. "Yeah, that's my grandpa. He comes over around New Years and then a few times during the summer to see us. I don't think my dad is too happy…he usually makes himself scarce. But he always brings gifts with him."

Ginny flipped a few more pages and then burst out laughing.

Janie leaned over to look; it was the picture of Matt and Logan sound asleep…covered in shaving cream.

"Why did you that?" She forced out between laughs.

"One night during break, we were watching a movie and they didn't understand how the characters didn't wake up while their friends were doing stuff to them while they were sleeping. So…We just proved our point."

Ginny laughed, until she looked up and saw Harry, Hermione, Severus, and Ron crowded around a short distance away.

"Uh oh…"

"What?"

"My mother senses are tingling. I'll be right back."

---

"Dad!" Trenton called, running up with Evalyn, her long red hair bouncing up and down. "Guess what?"

"What?" Severus asked.

"We're getting married!"  
"Excuse me?"

"Me and Lyn and getting married," Trenton repeated.

"Where are your rings?" Harry asked from behind Severus. "You're going to need rings."

Trenton's eyes widened. "Rings! C'mon, Lyn," he exclaimed and pulled her away.

Harry put his arm around Severus' neck. "Well, it looks like we're going to be brother-in-laws, Professor!"

"Another reason as to why people dislike their in-laws," he murmured. "Get off of me, Potter."

Harry withdrew his arm. "Wouldn't that be something if they actually did marry each other?"

He nearly snorted. "Something to imagine."

"I'm serious here, Professor."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Your daughter will fall for the older bad boy."

"But that's just it! Trenton's older than Evalyn _and_ I'll bet he'll be 'the bad boy.'"

The look that Harry received was glacier. Luckily though, he was saved from any reply Severus might have had when someone called out from behind them.

"There you are!"

The two turned around to see Hermione and Ron walking towards them.

"I was wondering where you disappeared to," Hermione said. "I came back in and you were gone from the table."

"Trenton needed to show me something," Severus replied.

"It's like we'll almost be in Hogwarts again," Harry said, staring off to the side.

Ron looked confused. "Harry, I don't think we're getting jobs there."

Harry looked back at them. "Look," he said, pointing at Trenton, James, and Evalyn. "It'll be just like the old Golden Trio. We've got a Potter, Weasley, and a Granger! We're all in there in some way!"

"Way to leave me out, Harry," Ron commented. "Now you two need to have another kid, so mine won't be left out-"

Hermione laughed. "That's very funny, Ron."

"I hope not," Severus remarked. "Do you know how much trouble you lot got it?"

"We still do," Hermione smiled. "Only now, you get into trouble with us."

"Besides," Ron began. "That's only if they make it into the same house."  
Harry narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ron grinned sheepishly. "Well, uh…We've noticed that James isn't the…nicest of boys. And, you know Harry, he's rather spoiled."

"So? We spoiled Janie to no end and she turned out just fine," Harry countered. "And they still spoil her _and_ Trenton."

Ron laughed. "Take it easy, mate. I'm just saying that James will have company—Trenton will be there too.

Hermione glared at him. "Keep digging, Ronald."

"Hermione, I'm just saying that he's really sneaky for his age."

"Ha!" Harry said.

"Ron-"

"He does have a point, Hermione," Severus said.

Hermione nearly had a heart attack. "You are _agreeing_ with him?" She asked, appalled.

"Well," he started. "Why can't he be in Slytherin? Janie's in Gryffindor."

"At least he has really good manners and speaks really well," Harry interrupted, as he saw the path that Severus was heading down. "James-" Harry stopped when he heard yelling.

"Ow!"

"I told you to stop!"

"Daddy!" James yelled, running towards Harry.

"James-"

"He kicked me!" The little boy exclaimed, pointing at Trenton.

"He deserved it!" Trenton shouted back, now wedged in between Severus and Hermione.

"James, what did you do?" Harry asked.

"He said I couldn't play with Lyn," Trenton answered for him. "And pushed me out of the way!"

"That didn't mean that you had to kick him, Trenton," Hermione said.

"No," he replied.

"And what has your mother said about kicking?" Severus asked.

"To not do it."

Harry held up his hand. "It's alright," he said, and then crouched down to talk to James. "Why did you push Trenton?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

James remained silent.

"James?"

James turned away. "I don't like T'wenton playing with Lyn."

"Why not?"

"She's my sister. Not his."

"James Arthur Potter!" Ginny exclaimed, just having recently walked up. "That is the meanest thing that I have ever heard you say!"

"Ginny-"

"You play with Janie all of the time and not once has Trenton ever yelled at you."

"Ginny-"

Ginny whipped around. "Harry James Potter, stay out of this. You spoil him rotten."

Harry slowly stood up.

"Apologize to Trenton."

"Really Ginny, it's alright. Trenton kicked him-"

"Hermione, it's fine. James had it coming. It's about time someone stopped putting up with him. He's been just terrible to Patrick. The only one he's ever nice to is Lyn and Janie," Ginny said, and turned back to James. "Apologize."

"Sorry."

"Like you mean it."

"I'm sorry."

Trenton looked at him. "Thank you."

"Trenton!" Hermione exclaimed. "Apologize for kicking him."

"I'm sorry for kicking you."

"I think the both of them should sit next to each other for a while," Severus remarked.

"That's a great idea!" Harry exclaimed. "C'mon James, Trenton," he said, as he grabbed each of their hands. "Let's go over to that bench over there."

The group watched as Harry quickly walked to the bench and sat down.

Ginny shook her head. "He tries so hard to give them everything they want and still be firm with them. I told him that he'd better get ready for the next one, because-"

"The _next_ one?" Ron stumbled.

"You're pregnant?" Hermione asked.

Ginny turned red and smiled.

"Since when?" Ron asked.

"Nine weeks-"

"Nine weeks and you never told we—us?"

"Since we're all sharing the news-"

"That's not even funny," Severus stated.

Ron's eyes widened, "You too?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, I just wanted to pull his leg," she said, pointing at Severus.

"But you're going to be left out," Ginny said. "With Ron's second and our third-"

"We're going to be free of dirty nappies," Hermione finished.

Ron crinkled his nose. "Dirty..._smelly_ nappies."

Hermione laughed. "And you still have years to go."

---

"I'm back," Ginny said, as she sat back down.

"I think you'll enjoy the next series of pages," Janie stated and handed her the book back.

Ginny opened up to a red page. "Valentine's Day?"

"We were finally old enough to go the dance this year. No more party!"

"That's Matt," Ginny pointed at the picture. "I thought you would have gone with Scott."

Janie made a face. "Scott couldn't go...He had his privileges revoked."

Ginny looked shocked. "For what?"

"Attacking another student," She replied.

"Scott? Did somebody do something to you?"

Janie shook her head. "After he came back from the winter holidays, he started to act differently. I guess after Christmas, his mum left to visit her sister and left Scott at home with his dad and brother. He doesn't get along too well with them...his dad's still a stickler for the 'old Slytherin' ways.

"But he won't talk to us about what happened. His older brother got married, and I guess his dad wasn't too happy. That's the only thing that we got out of him."

"Who did he attack?" Ginny asked.

"Matt," Janie nearly whispered.

---

_"__Are you going with Lyss?__"__ Matt asked, standing outside of Honeydukes._

_Logan's eyebrows knotted together. __"__I think so. It was confusing, really. It all happened so fast.__"_

_Matt laughed._

_"__So, did you ask her yet?__"_

_"No," Matt replied._

_"Did Scott?"_

_Matt shrugged. "I haven't talked to him much since before Christmas."_

_"What about Ardeal?"_

_"Madam Pomfrey doesn't want him going, because she's testing him on a new potion. It's going with the moon cycles, so he's stuck in the Hospital Wing that weekend."_

_"That's a letdown for anyone...having Madam Pomfrey breathing down your neck all weekend."_

_"Janie promised him we'd visit."_

_"So are you all cool with him now?"_

_"As of lately, more so than Scott," Matt said, as Janie and Lyss rounded a corner._

_"There they are," Logan whispered, and the two immediately fell silent._

_"You should have come with us," Lyss said. "Janie's mum helped us...and she dragged Professor Snape with her. Boy, did he look uncomfortable."_

_"He only wanted me to get a dress that went up to my neck and touched the floor," Janie laughed. "He sat in a corner the entire time, trying to be unnoticed. My mum joked around how he couldn't slink into the shadows, because the store was so bright."_

_"Why'd she drag your dad in?" Logan asked. "That's torture."_

_"They were picking out something for Trenton to wear and she wanted to be there for my 'first real dress.' He didn't understand how the weddings didn't count."_

_"He wouldn't let her get the dress that she wanted though," Lyss interrupted. "It was cute though, Trenton wanted to match her."_

_Janie smiled. "He's excited, because he gets to wear his current favorite color."_

_Matt laughed. "What's that?"_

_"Red...for now. Then he sees something else he likes and picks the color on that. My dad keeps stressing the Slytherin logo to him."_

_Matt smiled. "At least it's not pink."_

_Lyss rolled her eyes._

_"Hey Janie, can I talk to you?" Matt asked._

_"Sure," Janie smiled and they stepped to the side._

_"I wanted to a-"_

_"Carter!" Someone yelled._

_Matt looked up and saw Scott with his wand out._

_He narrowed his eyes. "One minute," Matt called, holding a finger in the air._

_"I wanted to ask you-"_

_"Matt, watch out!" Janie exclaimed, and pushed him out of the way as a spell whirled past. "Scott!" She yelled, as he quickly approached._

_"Carter!"_

_"What's with this 'Carter?' You haven't called me that since-" Matt stopped when Scott knocked the wind out of him and he fell on the ground._

_"How could you?" Scott asked._

_Matt looked confused. "How could I what?"_

_"I heard you with Logan! You were going to ask Janie to the dance and you know-"_

_"Scott-"_

_"That I-"_

_"Well you weren't doing anything, and it's not like you've been around much. Why don't you ask one of your Slytherin friends - you appear to like-" Matt stopped when Scott shoved him back on the ground._

_"Get off me, Narls!"_

_"This is stupid! Scott, get off of him!" Janie exclaimed. _

_Matt tried getting up, but Scott pushed him back down._

_"Get off!" Matt gruffed and shoved him really hard._

_"I can't believe-"_

_"Get off or I'll hex you," Matt finally threatened, as he tried to reach for his wand, while Scott pulled his out._

_"Can't reach yours, Carter?"_

_Matt reached up and swiped Scott's wand. "I can reach yours."_

_"Guys-"_

_Matt paid no attention to the growing crowd as he chucked Scott's wand, and in return, Scott punched him._

_"Fight!" Several of the students screamed._

_"Scott!" Janie yelled, and tried to yank him off of Matt._

_"Cut it out!" Matt said, as he deflected Scott's attacks._

_Suddenly, the crowd parted and a mad-looking McGonagall came yelling through the gathering of students. _

_"Mr. Narls! Get off of Mr. Carter!"_

_Scott appeared not to hear her._

_Luckily, Matt was better off than Scott and was able to grab his fists and not let go._

_Right as McGonagall pulled her wand out, Severus appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the back of Scott's robes, and ripped him right off of Matt._

_"What is going on?" McGonagall screeched, while Severus eyed each one of them, before stopping at Janie, who was staring at Matt, still sitting shocked on the ground._

---

"That's terrible," Ginny said quietly. "Are they both alright?"

Janie nodded. "Matt and Scott aren't talking. Scott was nearly yanked off of the Quidditch team. It got pretty bad the one game, because Matt plays Keeper and Scott's a Chaser. And he lost his prefect status. My dad said that if he amends and spoke with him privately over the summer about what happened, he might be a prefect again. And that's only because Scott's my friend and he used to come over all of the time."

"Are you talking to Scott?"

"He didn't really start talking to any of us until the middle of March. He said he was really sorry and that he had to work a few things out. He's only written me this summer so far…His mum let him move out with his brother and sister-in-law. My mum volunteered my dad to pick him up one day. So we're trying to figure out a day that will work. It's really weird not having him over all the time and my dad constantly watching like I'm a potion about to explode."

Ginny laughed and thumbed through a few more pages.

"Merlin Janie, what is that?" Ginny asked, pointing to a corridor covered in shiny black ink.

Janie laughed. "That was Peeves' attempt at coating the corridors with ink this year. Except," she paused to flip the page and pointed at a picture with Trenton covered in the ink, "he recruited Trenton to help."

"He _what_?"

"Peeves loves Trenton. He somehow got him out of my parents' quarters and gave Trenton a few ink bottles."

"He actually _likes_ Trenton?"

"Oh yeah. Ever since he pulled Filch's beard and fell on Mrs. Norris, Peeves loves him. My dad had to threaten him that if he came back in their quarters again, he'd sick the Bloody Baron on him. Needless to say, Peeves hasn't been in that area of the dungeons since."

"Has Peeves been around Trenton since?"

"After Remus found out, he thought that it wouldn't do any harm if he supervised the two…My dad didn't think so. After the coated corridors and the many attempts to yank Mrs. Norris' tail off, my dad doesn't want Trenton around him. That, and the fact that he almost gave both of my parents a coronary when they found Peeves in Trenton's room."

"What on earth was Peeves doing in Trenton's room?"

"Playing and talking with him," Janie replied and then pointed at the picture of Matches curled up next to Trenton. "That was afterwards."  
"That is adorable," Ginny fawned, as she flipped another page. "Why is Matches full of green goop?"

Janie laughed. "Flip another page."

"Trenton is too! What happened?"

"Trenton threw Match's toy and it got stuck in a bookshelf. When she jumped up to get it, she hit the switch to get into my dad's private lab. My mum was in a floo call and since my dad charmed it to be silent, she didn't hear anything. A few minutes later when I knocked on the door, she found them covered in goo and several things knocked over," Janie said. "At least it wasn't Peeves…My dad would have killed him again – Was Peeves even a person?"

Ginny shrugged. "I bet your mother would know. She could write her own _Hogwarts_: _A History_," she said, as she turned another page.

---

Once Ginny finished looking through the book, she placed it back on the table and turned to Janie.

"So how did the year end?" Ginny asked. "Did Gryffindor win anything?"

Janie smiled. "We actually won the House Cup this year. Scott's incident knocked the Slytherins out of first and they could never recover the lead. _And_, we also won the Quidditch Cup. McGonagall recruited Ardeal to be a Chaser, on the grounds that Quidditch was an equal-opportunity sport. He didn't want to play, because he thought that it would be unfair, but once his first game was over, it totally went out the window. I'll never forget the time he caught a bludger."

"He _caught_ a bludger?"

"Yeah! The Slytherin team was whacking them at him the entire game, so he caught one. I've never seen them fly away so fast in their life."

"Janie, I really need to start going to more of your games."  
She smiled. "McGonagall keeps pushing how the three of us—Me, Matt, and Ardeal, would be a 'powerhouse' to any Quidditch team."

"Do you want to keep playing Quidditch?"

Janie nodded. "For some time, yes. I'm not too sure yet what I really want to do, but I'd love to keep playing Quidditch."

Ginny laughed. "Does your mother know yet?"

"Neither of them does. My mum keeps dropping hints of places, because I'm so smart and a prefect, but I love Quidditch. Uncle Harry is really the only other person I've talked to about it, besides my friends."

"Do you know what team you want to play for?"

"Not the Chudley Cannons," Janie grinned. "Don't tell Uncle Ron that."

Ginny laughed. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"And McGonagall's already hinting about Quidditch Captain-"

"You're going to be in sixth year, right?"

Janie nodded.

"Who's above you?"

"Ardeal and Logan-"

"Do you think she's going to give it to Logan?"

Janie shrugged.

"Is he good?"

"Ardeal's better."

"He hasn't been on the team long enough to know," Ginny replied. "And you have been on the team the same amount as Logan. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a letter saying that you're the new Quidditch Captain. This is so exciting!" Ginny exclaimed. "Harry was made captain in his sixth year, and Katie was a seventh year at the time. So anything can happen! I bet it'll be you. You're amazing! And I'm sure you'll be the Head Girl, no doubt!"

Janie blushed. "Ginny-"

"Seriously, Janie. Quidditch Captain and Head Girl…Merlin, Ron will be so jealous. You've earned it."

---

"All settled then?" Harry asked the two boys.

Trenton nodded.

"James?"

"Yes," said a small boy who looked just like Harry, except with blue eyes.

"You two might end up being best mates one day, like Uncle Ron and I are. And it's perfectly fine for Trenton to be friends with Evalyn, and for James to be friends with Janie. Oh! And Patrick can play with your toys, James. It's sharing and we share. Understood?"

James nodded.

"Daddy!" Evalyn yelled, running up. "Aunt Herminny-"

"Hermione-"

"That's what I said, Aunt Herminny and Uncle See-verus-"

"Severus."

Evalyn crossed her arms.

Harry laughed. "Go on."

"Are looking for Trenton. They're talking to Lungbuttum."

Harry snorted.

"Uncle See-verus looks kind of mad though. He's scary when he's mad."

"That was because he didn't want to see his goddaughter get hurt," Harry replied. "When you were climbing on his bookshelf last week…And then the railing."

"Aunt Herminny didn't get mad…Her face was funny."

"Well, that's because your Aunt Hermione…dies a little on the inside whe-"

Evalyn's eyes widened. "Aunt Herminny!" She yelled and ran off.

---

"Aunt Herminny! Aunt Herminny!"

Hermione turned around. "Evalyn, what's wrong?"

"Don't die on the inside! I'm sorry!"

Hermione looked alarmed, until she saw Harry trailing behind James and Trenton.

"Don't worry, Evalyn. I'm—My insides aren't going anywhere. I'm fine."

She looked relieved.

"Go play with Trenton and James."

Hermione waited for her to run by the two boys, before she smacked Harry in the back of his head. "What did you tell her?"

Harry looked nervous. "Everytime they get hurt...you…die a little on the inside."

Hermione slapped him again. "Why in the world would you tell that to a three-year-old?"

"It was the first thing that popped in my head," he replied, as Ron walked up with his daughter.

"Well, Abigail is tired…I think we're going to be headed back now."

"Do you really have too?" Harry asked.

Ron nodded. "I'm hoping this exhausted her and she'll finally sleep through the night. Everyone's coming to her birthday next week, right?"

"Of course," Harry answered and then laughed. "You get to look forwards to the 'terrible twos!'"

"Don't joke about that, Harry," Ron said. "James was awful…And so was Trenton. Constantly pulling people's hair…Abigail is skipping her second birthday and is moving right up to three."

Harry cracked a smile, "It's not that easy, mate. It's not like she's going to wake up tomorrow a completely different person."

"That's what you think," Ron mumbled. "So I'll see you later. Bye Harry…Bye Hermione…Bye Professor."

---

After Ron left, the crowd seemed to steadily dwindle down. Dumbledore, who was joyous that a wedding was actually happening _at_ the school, decided to lend the Gryffindor common room to the Weasleys for the night (On the grounds that it would still be intact the next morning, of course.).

It wasn't too much later when Harry found himself on his way down to the dungeons. After they had arrived in their room, he found that Evalyn somehow had Trenton's bowtie. It was a relief to leave – Harry had wanted to go home, but Ginny had been suckered into staying in one of the dormitories. Before he knew it, he was already standing outside of Hermione's quarters.

Harry quietly knocked, hoping not to wake anyone up. No one answered.

_I hope no one's up_, he thought, as he waved his wand and the door slid open. Hermione had given him a 'key in,' so to speak, a few weeks ago and she had forgotten to change it.

Harry hesitantly poked his head in and when he didn't see anybody, he crept in and froze: He saw them sitting on the couch.

"Hermione?" Harry whispered.

No one moved.

Harry silently put the bowtie on the side table and walked to them.

"Sorry, I-" He stopped and smiled; all four of them were sleeping on the sofa in front of the fire.

Harry looked from Trenton, Hermione, Severus, and then Janie and his smile widened. He'd have to remind Hermione that the plan she came up with several years ago was probably the smartest thing she'd ever done.

He'd only hope that she wouldn't kill him first for sneaking into their quarters.

*~*~*

**A/N: **

**Love it? Like it, hate it? I want to know your opinions! Did you have a favorite part, line, character? As a "thank you" to everyone, I will reply back to every review that I receive for this chapter. :o) Feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer them!! After I'm finished with my two stories I'm currently writing (keep an eye out for them!), I'll probably do a short sequel to this. **

**Thanks to everyone again for reading and reviewing! It really is appreciated and means a lot!**


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